Fault Lines
by Broken Ink Bottles
Summary: A thorough Voldemort takes a drastic precautionary step before setting out to the Potters' on that fateful Halloween night. The world is altered and a reality is torn into two, with very different outcomes. When the two universes re-converge in due time, all hell breaks loose. Sirius X Fem!Harry
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**

_Hello all!_

_To all the people who used to read Fault Lines, I have to start with an apology - I'm so sorry I removed Fault Lines (the original one). I had multiple reasons for doing so.. For one, the plot was literally running from me and while plot gaps are okay (my personal opinion), I don't think they should be that massively obvious. _

_Secondly, while a big fan of the Sirius x Fem!Harry genre, I had to admit that it was going too quickly for my liking and since I don't personally condone anybody under the age of 18 entering a sexual relationship with someone older than them (However hot Sirius is, unacceptable behaviour by my former Fault Lines Sirius.. She's 14 man, have some boundaries yeah?) This is also the main reason I removed the story. _

_Just to clarify, this story follows the same plotline as the last version. It's just that I've taken time out to draw the characters and slowly develop their relationship rather than rush into a hormonal and angsty one. And this time, I've got the story worked out (well approximately anyway) so all set to give version two a go. And yes this a Sirius x Fem!Harry one too, just taking it a little slower and putting some semblance of sense into their crazy relationship. _

_And thirdly, the name Bella rankled me. It felt too twilightish. And also easily confusable with Bellatrix Lestrange. So I've decided to go with 'Leila' It's a name of persian origin that refers to a beautiful women with dark hair. _

_Well off we go then, and once again, my apologies for the long break! _

**PROLOGUE**

Dark haired, as beautiful as her name hinted, too lonely and despairing for one so young, she tossed on her thin mattress. The tiny cupboard should be, in theory, soundproofed by sheer distance from her family's rooms upstairs. As their loud snores reached her, Leila mused that it would be just her luck that the one great advantage of having the cupboard for a room would be beaten back by the Dursleys' subconscious.

Leila, who was ten years, three hundred and sixty four days, twenty three and three quarters of an hour old at that precise moment, felt a brief moment of hopelessness. She had learnt long ago that nobody would save her from 11 Privet Drive. There were no mysterious family members out there. She could just as well be as dead as her parents to everybody outside this house (and inside it too, if she was going to be honest about it). She soldiered on, promising herself that she would leave when she was eighteen and never look back. She would travel the world, she would become a photographer, geologist, a spy even – whatever whisked her away from her so-called family. But as some part of her brain started the mental countdown to her birthday, she couldn't help the fear that ran through her. '_What if I'm stuck here forever?' _she wondered. She wished she'd died in that stupid car crash.

Outside, in the living room, a letter whooshed down the chimney, bounced off the grate and landed gently on the carpet.

Leila Potter  
The Cupboard under the Stairs  
11 Privet Drive  
Surrey

Outside, a giant of a man cheerfully plonked himself down the closest park bench, waiting for the inevitable chaos to descend on the Dursley household the following morning. He felt one of his numerous pockets for a cake box and wondered if Leila preferred strawberry and if she wouldn't mind her chocolate-mint cake. '_Well, no worries. Her Aunt is bound to bake her favourite for her birthday. Mine is just an add-on, more of a hello present.'_ He thought , blissfully unaware that this would be her first birthday cake, not counting her first birthday at Godric's Hollow.

Even so, Hagrid couldn't help wonder what on earth did the letter mean by 'Cupboard under the Stairs'.

Hundreds of miles away, a young man sat hunched over a table, intently scribbling away at a letter. His young face was lined twenty years too early. His brown hair had small streaks of grey and stood at odd angles because of the number of times he'd run his hand through it while filling out yet another job application that was sure to be rejected. His tiny room was tidy and unremarkable save for a sturdy metal cage with iron shackles tucked away in one corner. His robes hung loose and his stomach hurt from lack of food.

Remus signed his name and as he underlined his signature with the date, a numb feeling crawled down his spine. It was _her _birthday. He swallowed. And his numb shock gave way to slow burning rage. He stared around his miserable room and loathed the world. No job. No money. No friends.

There was no way they would've given him custody of her. He clenched his fist. He had loved her, loved them all. He had thought his life was complete, even with war raging around them. Then the fight had entered his world and ten years later, all he had was disgust from the wizarding world for his _condition, _haunted by the memory of three dead friends, unable to really process the fact that his other best friend was serving a life sentence for turning out to be traitorous bastard that he was suspected of being. And her. The knowledge that she was alive helped him through his worse days. But tonight, all he had was rage and misery at how he hadn't been allowed near her all these years.

Remus Lupin tiredly reached for his bottle of cheap whisky. Pouring out a small glass, he raised the glass half heartedly at the wall across the room and murmured "Happy Birthday Leila. Forgive me for… well, for everything."

Thousands of miles, in the middle of the cold North Sea, another young man sat hunched in his cell. He didn't know what the date was. He wasn't entirely sure where he was either. He supposed he might be able to make sense of things if the slow movie reel of the horrors of his life stopped playing in his brain.

Starved, lost in an abyss of dark despair, everything about him suggested an early death. But deep in his bones, a rhythm churned out with his blood cells NotGuiltyPeterTraitorJamesDeadLilyDeadRemusWronged LeilaAloneNotGuilyPeterTraitorJamesDEadLilyDeadRem usWrongedLeilaAloneNotGuiltyPeterTraitorJamesDeadL ilyDeadRemusWrongedLeilaAlone

Years in Gryffindor had not taken away his fundamental Slytherin DNA. Ironically, the part of him he had loathed now saved him. The Black family serpent coiled, waiting, biding its time. When the time was right, he would strike, he would avenge his loved ones.

The serpent coiled around the lion in his heart, protecting from the perpetual cold of the Demetors, singing out a rhythm in his blood to chain his sanity to his withering body.

_****In a reality distant but destined to rejoin its original path****_

Godric's Hollow was till that night. Even the crickets were hushed and it was in the middle of summer. James Potter fiddled absently with his wand and stared unseeingly at his Butterbeer. He wondered if he should go find someone to bother, to take his mind of _that night._ But just as he had been doing for ten years, he stayed put in the kitchen and nursed his drink. Remembering was his penance, his way of apologizing to his dead daughter.

I'm sorry we thought the order meeting was too important to miss.

I'm sorry we put our faith in that rat.

I'm sorry our complacence got you killed.

I'm sorry Voldemort still lives.

I'm sorry we can't move on and put your memory to rest.

I'm sorry we made you eat that god awful pistachio cake on your first birthday. If we had known it would be your last, we would have never let Sirius do the baking.

The house was full. James sat in the kitchen, Lily was upstairs in the room, doing her best not to cry and determinedly reading through her notes, not really reading it anyway. Remus was in the living room, emptying out his Firewhisky in silence and staring into the fire. Sirius was, no doubt, in Leila's nursery. He was the only one who ever went in there. The other three couldn't bear to go in to the room and face the silence and the dust where there should've been a child's laughter and scattered toys. But Sirius found solace in the very room she had been murdered, grasping on to what felt like small wisps of her soul trailing in there.

Ten years since that night, they never moved on, the war raged on and ghost of the dead child slid into the tiny grave at the edge of the woods by the manor despite their best efforts to trap it in the house.

Mostly, they picked up the pieces and went back to the front lines. Aurors, Spy and Healer, they found their way back in the world after the tragedy. But every year, on the 31st of July and 31st of October, the pretense gave way. The jokes ceased the war strategies dissipated into the silence of the house and they sat with their insides wrapped in guilt and regret.


	2. Chapter 2

He tried to look away but his head refused to cooperate with his screaming brain. She looked nothing like _her_ but she looked nothing like him either. A perfect blend that resulted in a dainty pixie-like human that looked like both of them and yet nothing like either of them. _Her_ heart shaped face, _her_ slender fingers wrapped around her fork. His mischievous grin, his black hair but what looked like a ridiculous mess on him, worked out well longer and on a girl. Severus Snape had dreaded this moment for ten years. He had no doubt he would hate the child. She was sure to be like her father, spoilt and arrogant. But this little girl could almost be someone else entirely and for that he felt a spasm of relief. He might survive this after all. He slowly released the breath he had been holding and was about to turn to McGonagall when she looked up and met his averting gaze.

Dark green eyes. _Her _eyes.

Severus Snape had always been sure he would hate James Potter's child just for being his. What he hadn't expected was the shock and resentment at the girl who had her mother's eyes. She was here, with Lily's eyes. Lily, who he had loved and lost by his own folly and pride.

And Snape knew he hated this girl even more. Leila Potter had no business being here, haunting him with those eyes. And yet, he knew he would keep his word to Dumbledore. The girl and her eyes were all that was left of his beloved Lily.

'_Why couldn't she have been a boy?'_ he wondered bitterly. '_Why couldn't I have had the one thing that would make it easier for me to hate this Potter spawn?'_

Over the next few weeks, to a casual observer, Dumbledore looked merry and attentive to his immediate company. On closer inspection, his half moon glasses flashed in the candlelight as he angled his head ever so often at the Gryffindor table. Leila was surrounded by a mass of red heads, with the solitary dark hair of Neville Longbottom seated next to her. It felt like a good omen to him. Her fast friendship with the Weasleys delighted with him. He wouldn't have been able to pick better, kinder company for the child if he the liberty of choosing for her himself. And Neville would be able to use her companionship. Their history was shared and terrible but their upbringing had resulted in two very different entities. Neville Longbottom was smothered by his overprotective guardians and placed firmly in the shadow of his parents. Leila Potter was steel, forged from the indifference of her foster family and a hardened survivor who managed to retain compassionate and righteousness. They would need each other to carry the weight of their parents' legacy.

As he continued to observe her, he noticed how little she ate, the caution and wariness in the way she sat, her curious eyes as she took in her surroundings. He felt a stab of guilt, as he was prone to feeling whenever he thought of Leila. He knew he was sentencing the poor child to ten long, hard years with Petunia and Vernon Dursley. It had taken a threat of sorts to ensure they took her in and he harboured no illusions of hidden familial love. But he knew it was the right thing to do. It was the only way to protect her.

'_And it has proven to be a remarkable character building exercise,'_ he thought, '_she has all the makings of a true hero. There just might be hope after all.'_

As he watched her trade insults with Draco Malfoy, Dumbledore sighed, partly in exasperation and partly in amusement. '_Some things never change. Some things just trickle down through blood and you never have to be taught to be prejudiced. Well, James would be proud.' _

At precisely that moment, he watched her trade an eye roll with Blaise Zabini across the hall as Malfoy sputtered and turned red at something the Weasley twins said.

'_Or maybe not. Interesting...'_

Hermione, Ron and Leila managed to crab a compartment all to themselves on the train journey back home. The adrenaline surge that had accompanied the confrontation with Quirrell was finally wearing off and the three of them could manage some conversation that didn't revolve around the Philosopher's Stone.

"You are coming to stay at the Burrow this summer, right?" asked Ron, only half coherent with his mouth stuffed with Chocolate Frogs.

"I'd love to." replied Leila wistfully. She didn't want to make any promises because it would be hard to predict the Dursleys' mood. Either they would want to get rid of her as soon as humanly possible or they might want revenge for Hagrid's magical demonstrations on them last summer.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance. Leila, as a matter of principle, kept the details of her life with her muggle relatives threadbare. But odd, small comments and incidents had stacked up over the year for both her best friends to realize that the famous Leila Potter had a highly unenviable childhood. Hermione for her part, processing Leila's reluctance on the topic, usually left it alone. Ron didn't quite manage to be subtle about it and he went as far as mentioning his suspicions to his brothers and possibly the Gryffindor first year boys' dormitory. Now Leila fielded invitations from ALL the Weasleys and what could've well been an adoption offer from Neville (though that might have been more out of self interest. He had added that he would've liked his grandmother to focus on someone else for a change and having Leila for a sibling might do the trick).

"I hope the next year is quieter." commented Hermione, changing the subject for Leila's benefit. "I, for one, really need to pay attention in class."

Ron and Leila looked at her disbelievingly. "Mione, you got the highest marks in first year." Leila articulated the words slowly, as though Hermione was suffering from brain damage.

"Yeah please do us a favour, study a little less and make us look less moronic next year." suggested Ron drily.

"I could've done better." said Hermione earnestly. "And it's not like you want to see You-Know-Who again, do you?"

Leila's hand automatically flew to her scar. "Hell no." she muttered, absently rubbing her scar.

'_Are you sure about that?' _The errant thought made her stomach crunch up in knots. It was a thought that came to her often now, after that night. Leila brushed it off as post traumatic stress but it felt like the whole incident lacked closure. She often woke up, drenched in sweat, fresh out of a dream where she had actively tried to reach out to a shadow with red eyes and cruel laugh. Leila wondered if she should tell her friends but something stopped her. They wouldn't understand. She had a feeling Dumbledore would and that may not necessarily be a good thing. A lifetime of being a freak and an outsider, Leila had no intention of becoming the Girl-Who-Sought-Out-The-Dark-Lord in the wizarding world. The attention from being the Girl-Who-Lived was bad enough.

Then there was the static disturbance in the background in those dreams... Like a cotton sheet ripping in two and the intermittent crackling and minor explosions, muted so that she barely noticed them at the time.

Leila had a bad feeling that her silence on the matter was going to circle back with repercussions in the near future.

****** _Alternate Universe*******_

It was an unusually quiet day at Hogwarts but then again the school had been becoming progressively quieter over the years. After decades of Voldemort's continuing reign of terror, most families preferred to home school their children. The ones who did send their children to school did so purely because they thought their offspring would be safer under Dumbledore's watch, rather than for academic reasons. It didn't help that half the staff was dead or had been inducted into the dark side. Now almost all the classes were being handled by ten odd teachers. Ironically, the most important subject given the danger of their times, Defence Against Dark Arts, had been taken off the curriculum by Dumbledore who tired of losing talented people to a cursed post. Instead, Minerva and Filius integrated relevant aspects of it into their classes. It was, by no means, sufficient. But given the circumstances, it was the best they could do. Some of the Order members like Remus and Kinsgley had offered to occasionally teach on a visiting capacity, an offer Dumbledore accepted gratefully.

Dumbledore tiredly rubbed his temples and sighed. The dreams were getting worse. Normally, he was not a man to be rattled by his own subconscious ramblings but something about the dreams off late touched a nerve. Voldemort was always in the background, red eyed and disturbing, lurking in the shadows. Then there was the other figure. Petite and dark haired. Dumbledore felt a chill run down his spine as he thought of the young girl. He knew instinctively that she was an innocent and the way shadowed Voldemort's gaze was trained at her made him sick with fear for her. But the last few nights… the girl had reached out to the madman, trying to follow him into the shadows.

Dumbledore knew this was no ordinary dream.

'_Who is she?'_ he wondered. '_What does Riddle want with a young girl? The last time he showed any interest in a child was when he hunted and killed Leila Potter and Neville Longbottom over a decade ago.'_

As the thought ran across his mind, he bolted upright. '_No… It couldn't be… Could it?'_


	3. Chapter 3

"Surely, you've noticed how _similar_ we are?" whispered Tom Riddle, eyes gleaming in the darkness of the chamber.

Up until that point, Leila had only been half paying attention to his narcissistic speech, trying to focus her energies on finding a way to get Ginny and herself out of this mess. But his words grabbed all her attention and Riddle noticed. His smile grew.

"Both of us are half blood, orphaned, blessed with the ability to converse in Parseltongue… we even look a bit alike." Leila stared up at his handsome face and swallowed uncomfortably. The same dark hair, the prominent cheekbones, even the way they tilted their heads slightly to the left while conversing…

'_But you don't go around calling Muggleborns Mudbloods and setting Basilisks on innocent people._' She reminded herself grimly. She sneered at him and replied, "Actually, I'm better looking and that's without even accounting for the creepy red eyes."

A mixture of amusement and alarm washed over her as Riddle's nostrils flared and his lips curled into a snarl. '_Blimey… For a supposed all powerful Dark Lord, he's mighty sensitive to kindergarten insults.' _

Recklessly, she plowed on "Didn't have you down as the preening-in-front-of-the-mirror type, Tom. But if you're that shallow about your looks, let me give you a heads up about future you. You look like a white porcelain plate with ketchup smudges for eyes - the kind of food doodle my muggle cousin used to make on the rare occasions he wasn't stuffing his face with everything in sight. So there's something to think about – you're an evil, miserable, friendless, body-less bit of soul floating about in some Albanian forest and you don't even have the pretty face to charm your way back to power. Tough luck, mate."

A few minutes later, as Riddle screamed his fury in Parseltongue, issuing instructions to the gigantic snake monster, Leila backed herself into a corner, eyes screwed shut and thinking to herself that maybe it wasn't such a smart idea to push so many of his buttons when he was armed and clearly had the upper hand.

Hours later, content after a tonne of food at the midnight feast, Hagrid's return, Dumbledore pointing out that she had pulled out Gryffindor's sword from the hat (making her less Slytherin that she feared she was) and Dobby's new-found freedom, she snuggled into bed, further gladdened at the sight of Hermione's un-petrified sleeping form in the bed next to hers.

The contentment drained slowly like swirling bathwater as her regularly occurring, Voldemort starring dreams turned up a notch in the terrifying meter.

_Leila meandered slowly through the large house. Something about the place seemed vaguely familiar. Spotting a flight of stairs, she slowly made her way towards it, propelled by an inexplicable desire to go upstairs, to her room. _

'_My room?' she wondered hazily. 'But this isn't Privet Drive.'_

_She looked casually into the living room as she drifted past it, suddenly stopping and doubling back. She stared at the man seated on the table. His legs stretched out in front of him leisurely, he continuously tossed a Quaffle from one hand to the other, his laughter filling the room. Dark, untidy hair fell across his forehead, above his bespectacled hazel eyes and infectious grin. Her grin._

"_Dad?" Leila whispered her throat constricting. He didn't look her way, immersed in cheerful conversation with two more people, whose backs were turned to her. All she could see from their blurry, shadowy outlines were that they were male. _

_She tried to enter the room, but her feet appeared to have a life of their own, taking her upstairs. She turned right and slowly turned the knob on the door. It creaked and slowly opened. A baby cot stood at the centre, surrounded by stuffed animals and what appeared to be a toy broomstick leaning against the wall by the window. She entered the room, looking around keenly. It was clear the room was in a state of disuse. Dust was gathering on the surfaces and the air smelt musty, like people hardly ever came in here. She peered into the cot, expecting it to be empty. Instead, she found herself blinking down at a tiny baby, with luminous dark eyes. She warily glanced further down and noted that the baby was a boy. _

'_But this is my room' she thought, vague confusion stealing over her, as she reached down and picked him up, cradling him in her arms. 'Who is he?' _

_The infant giggled and curled his tiny hand around a strand of her black hair. She instinctively smiled at him and held him closer. _

'_I want to keep him.' The thought was as vague and as hazy as the others running through her mind, as she cuddled the cooing child. _

"_You have to keep him, Leila. You are him." A soft, menacing voice whispered over her shoulder. _

_She spun around, tightening her hold on the baby. There was nobody there. _

"_We're so alike, you and I… We're the same…" She started and looked at the baby. The dark eyes were gone, only to be replaced with red, serpentine slits. The demon child smiled at her. _

_Leila's scream struggled to make its way out of jammed larynx. She tried to drop the child back in the cot but her arms wouldn't move. _

_The walls around her begin to crumble and Leila struggled to un-stick her throat. She had to warn her father, sitting downstairs, unaware. _

Leila woke up with a start, gasping for breath. Daylight filtered through the drawn curtains of the dormitory. Lavender, Parvati and Hermione were peacefully asleep, oblivious to her heart thudding loudly in her ear, as she struggled to breathe and soothe her malfunctioning lungs.

'_It was just a dream._' She told herself over and over again. She snuggled back into the covers, seeking warmth. Sleep was out of the question after that nightmare.

'_It's just a dream. It can't happen. After all, your father is already dead._'

She screwed her eyes shut, refusing to let the tears escape, trying in vain to banish the image of a laughing, Quaffle-juggling James Potter from her mind.

The summer crept up on them and Leila wearily dragged her trunk into 11 Privet Drive.

'_What I wouldn't give to be able to escape this hell-hole…_' she though, unhappiness radiating off her.

Unknown to her, thousands of miles away, the newspaper crumpled sharply into the fist of a skeleton's hand. Gray eyes darted around the cell wildly till they narrowed in ferocity as his body morphed into canine form. Unlike Leila, Sirius Black did escape his hell hole and began his long journey south, with her name ringing repeatedly in his ears, followed by cold, dank mist that seemed to drain the light from every living soul.

*****_Alternate Universe_*****

James Potter looked on blearily as Moody repeatedly jabbed at a map of Dorset. They were trying to come up with a defense strategy after intelligence reports had come in about the Death Eaters' plan to ravage the seaside towns, as part of a new spate of mass murders across village clusters in the southern counties. He tried to pay attention to what he was saying but he found himself constantly distracted and at edge. He glanced sideways at Sirius and Frank. Sirius seemed to wear a similar expression of exhaustion and didn't even look like he was trying to put the effort to listen. Frank caught his stare and frowned lightly at them. James didn't blame him. It was very unusual for Sirius and him to shut up this long.

"Potter? Black? Can I get you a cup of coffee?" Kingsley's slow, deep voice reached his ears. Both of them blinked and sat up straighter to find Moody giving them a viciously angry stare.

Sirius threw Kingsley a nasty look as he bit the inside of his cheeks to keep from laughing. It was always amusing to have Moody go mental as long as one wasn't at the receiving end.

Alice shot them a sympathetic look as Moody started his rant. James, who was regularly the target of Moody's lectures, managed to mentally tune him out while keeping his face perfectly contrite.

The dreams were vivid. James knew he should just let it go, that they were just that – dreams. But there was something deeply unsettling about them. Normally, James would tell Lily, Padfoot and Moony anything but this time, he found himself unable to. He shifted uncomfortably, his throat constricting.

'_Not now!_' he thought to himself angrily, looking over at Sirius quickly to see if he had noticed, completely oblivious to the fact that Sirius was thinking about the very thing he was trying to hide.

Neither of them had bothered to bring it up because they both couldn't bear to hear themselves voice it to the others and cause pain, even if it was just a dream.

Night after night, James dreamt of the same thing.

_A young girl – sometimes as young as five, sometimes older, almost 12. She spun slowly on the spot, singing softly to herself, her white dress twirling around her. The road she stood on was a bland, inconspicuous muggle neighbourhood. _

_James watched her with fascination, inexplicably drawn to her. At first she was a vague shape, but over the last couple of days she took on a definite form. Long, dark hair and oh-so-familiar eyes. _

_And last night, she had stopped twirling, looked up at him and smiled softy. Then she looked down and he watched in horror as a dark red stain spread over torso, unmistakably blood. _

'_Leila! Get inside! Now!' a shrill voiced yelled in the background. _

'_Coming!' called the child softly back at the source of the voice. She gave him a lingering look, then slowly turned and walked away, her blood dripping steadily along her wake. _

James Potter squeezed his eyes shut. He had no doubt that the dream child was meant to be his long dead daughter.

'_Why?_' he wondered despairingly. '_Why would I even dream such a horrific thing?_'

Next to him, Sirius grimly pondered his own dream's chilling rendition of Leila.

_She looked no older than twelve, sitting forlornly on what looked like one of the strange contraptions he remembered seeing in muggle playgrounds. She kicked at the dirt by her feet. He approached her cautiously and knelt next to her. _

_She looked up and met his eyes. 'So beautiful…' he found himself thinking, feeling a bit lightheaded. _

_He reached out and cupped her cheek. 'Leila…' he whispered. 'I've missed you.' _

_She continued to stare at him. 'Who are you?' she asked him softly._

_His heart clenched. 'It's me, Pafoo. Remember?'_

_She stared at him, her green eyes darkening. 'No.' The syllable came out flat and cold. _

_Sirius felt panic at her words. "Yes you do!" he insisted. 'I'm your favourite!'_

_She smiled coldly and looked over his shoulder. 'No you're not. He is.'_

_Sirius glanced over his shoulder and his blood ran cold. Voldermort stood over behind him, staring down at Leila. She got up, walked around Sirius and took his hand. Sirius sprang back in horror. Her eyes had turned red, like Voldemort's. They smiled in an identical fashion at him._

_Sirius grabbed Leila's other hand, trying to drag her back to his side. _

'_She's mine! Give her back to me!' he snarled, rage and terror mingling._

_But Leila pulled away and hid behind Voldemort and watched him wide eyed. Voldemort twirled his wand casually, leering at him. _

'_I could kill you, Black. But I think letting you live to watch me take her away is far, far more satisfying.'_

His screams followed him into his reality as he woke up.

'_Just a dream_.' He told himself over and over again. '_After all, Leila is already dead._' He pressed his grief back at the thought, eerily mimicking his goddaughter, who was separated from him by a reality.


	4. Chapter 4

Her anger at Aunt Marge had far from abated but reason slowly caught up with her, towing with it rising panic. Additionally, her arms ached from dragging her trunk this far. She resignedly slumped down on the pavement, and dropped her head into her hands and shuddered from the shock of the whole incident.

She wasn't in the least bit sorry at what she had done to Marge (albeit accidentally. She had lost all control of her magic when her rage took over). She partly hoped Marge had blown up and bits of her rained down on the Dursleys. She immediately cringed at the mental image and felt sickened that she could even think something like that.

'_What is the matter with me_?' she despaired.

Her lack of sleep due to her frightening dreams and the crankiness of having to deal with the additional insufferable addition to the Dursley household had reduced her to a wreck. Now sitting alone in the pavement, saddled with a heavy trunk she was undoubtedly a fugitive of the wizarding law (and possibly muggle law enforcement too. She couldn't put it past the Dursley's to call the police. Their fury might well outweigh their fear at being unable to explain _how _Marge at blown up). She felt the cracks on her normally calm exterior deepen.

The Weasleys were in Egypt, Hermione and her parents were in France and she had nowhere else to go. Tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't have the energy to wipe them off and it was a relief to let them flow after bottling them up for so many years.

The hedge in front of her rustled and she sat up, alert. Suddenly it struck her that it was very late at night, the neighbourhood she managed to drag her trunk into was a quiet one and a bit sketchy after dark. She whipped out her wand and warily pointed it in the direction of the noise.

The large, black dog that hid behind the hedge stared at the girl. It had been twelve years since he had seen her. In his mind, every time he thought of her, he could only picture the toddler who'd crawl into his lap and curl up, giggle and wave her tiny arms around saying 'Pafoo'. He had known of course, that she would be entering her teens now. But the time it had taken to clear his head enough to get a bearing on where he was and track down where she would be, hadn't been enough to really process the thought. Now, facing the distressed girl in front of him, he was stunned.

He slowly stepped out of the hedge, his canine eyes trained on her. Leila's eyes widened. While she was relieved it was just a dog and not a serial killer, the fact that it was a really big dog did nothing to quell her alarm. '_This is no dog!_' she thought in fear. '_This is a bloody wolf! What is a wolf doing in the suburbs? Am I imagining this in some hunger and stress induced state?'_

The dog seemed to sense her fear and paused and settled for staring at her. Leila slowly lowered her wand, not wanting to appear aggressive and set it off. 'It_'s watching me… isn't it? Ohmygod I'm going insane!'_

Sirius was, in fact, watching her, greedily drinking in the sight, desperately committing it to his memory.

She was delicate but clearly blossoming into a woman, a fact that Sirius suddenly realized he shouldn't be really appreciating as her godfather. '_But by gods, she is beautiful_.' Her dark hair fell in waves, framing her face. That face, that vulnerable expression, her tear-filled eyes…

Sirius shook himself out of his daze at that. Tears? '_Why is she crying? What the hell is going on?_' That's when the whole scene properly sunk in. '_Why is she out this late, on her own, with her luggage, in a seedy area by herself, CRYING?_'

His growing alarm propelled him further in her direction. Leila, equally at edge, immediately raised her wand again to protect herself from the advancing wolf-dog. She didn't stand a chance, stunned by the loud bang and the blinding light.

Howling, the dog leaped at her, knocking her down, sending both of them tumbling into the pavement. Leila lay slumped on the pavement, dazed, staring up at lopsided bus painted in an eye-watering purple and yellow.

"What the... I have got to have head trauma! What is _happening_?" she groaned, rubbing a her head where it had made contact with the concrete.

A pimply, gangly man hopped out and said in a an overly cheery tone, "Allo! And welcome to the Knight Bus! I'm Stand Shunpike, you're conductor this evening." Leila looked up at him bemused, as he chanted out his entire introductory sales pitch. Finally he looked down, having noticed his potential customer wasn't quite at eye level.

"Whatcha doin' down there?" he asked, his formal accent fading into a more comfortable cockney.

Leila replied hotly, "I fell over when you almost ran over me, that's what!"

Stan looked indignant. "Run over ye? Yer the one who stuck yer wand out an' flagged us down."

Leila blinked. "Oh. I did? ... I did! Right! Sorry? It was a mistake. I had no idea I was flagging anything down."

Stan stared at something behind. "Lotsa luggage behin' ye. Sure 'twas a mistake? Yer lookin' a bit lost."

"I'm fine! Really. No big. I'll be on my way." said Leila hastily, stumbling on to her feet. Getting onto public transport seemed like an obviously stupid thing to do when she was on the run.

"Don think yer dog's keen on walkin' about." Stan said, pointing behind her.

"My.. what?!"

Leila turned around and started at the sight that met her eyes. The gigantic wolf-dog that she was sure she'd imagined had the edge of the leather fastening straps of her trunk clenched in his sharp teeth and appeared to be attempting to drag her trunk closer to the bus.

"Whoa! What're you doing?" Leila waved her hands about, trying to shoo him off.

The dog looked up at her and Leila could almost imagine it saying to her "What are _you_ doing?"

'_Great. Now I'm attaching personality on some random, scary stray. This night just keeps getting worse._'

Deciding to deal with the potentially more problematic human first, she turned back to Stan and said firmly, "No thank you, Stan. I'll be fine."

She turned and was greeted by a very angry dog, baring its teeth at her. She immediately backed away.

"What is your problem?" she snapped at it.

'_My problem,' _thought Sirius angriliy, '_is that you're out alone in the dead of the night and clearly an emotional wreck, so get in the fucking well-lit bus and GO HOME!' _He fastened his teeth on her skirt and pulled her towards the steps.

"Alright! Stop it! You're ruining my clothes! I'll get in myself!" she snapped, wondering why she was allowing herself to be bullied by a cranky mutt.

Stan chuckled appreciatively and picked up her trunk. "Smart dog ye got there, miss."

"He's not my..." began Leila, then stopped as the dog looked up at her. Something about it tugged at her heart. She peeked at its throat and saw that it had no collar. She carefully peeked further down to check if it was really a _he_ though her instinct told her it was. She sighed and scratched his ears.

"Pets allowed, right?" she asked Stan tiredly.

The door slammed shut behind them, causing the dog to yelp and begin pawing at it frantically. Clearly, he hadn't been expecting to come along for the ride.

"Yeah. But gotta pay extra." Stan called behind his shoulder, as he made way his way towards the front of the bus. "Where to?"

"Diagon Alley, London." she called after him.

Leila looked at the dog, now looking like it was trying to smash its paws through the glass.

"Oi!" she hissed "Cut it out! I barely have money to cover this trip! I can't cover damages too!"

The dog looked at her and whined. She gave him an imploring look. "You're a stray and so am I. Nobody is going to miss either of us. Well, not you anyway. I'm in trouble. Come with me. I'll take care of you."

Leila had no idea why she was having a conversation with a dog, but having no one but Hedwig for company for weeks at end had made her realize that animals seemed to understand perfectly well what she said to them, at least the ones in the wizarding world. And she had a feeling this dog was no ordinary one.

Her words seemed to affect the dog, who instantly quietened down and stared up at her. She gave him what she hoped was an encouraging smile. She turned to go after Stan and she felt the dog quietly padding along behind her, occasionally pushing its snout into her fingers and nuzzling at them.

After thrusting some silver at Stan that she dug out of her trunk, he led her to a bed near the driver Ernie. She sat tentatively and looked around at the largely empty bus. The dog on the other hand, hopped onto it and settled next to her, tongue wagging as it peered over the dashboard.

Leila looked at him thoughtfully. "Seeing as you're sort of mine now, I can't keep calling you 'dog'. How about... Snuffles?"

The dog gave a short, sharp bark that reeked with disapproval.

Leila smiled at him. "Don't like it huh? Too bad. You should've thought of that before snuffling away at my fingers."

Snuffles huffed and settled down, his face on her lap. She absently stroked his head and watched the road apprehensively as buildings and muggle buses leapt out of the way of the madly swerving Knight Bus. Stan came in after a few minutes and settled down on the seat in front of her, with the air of a man ready to have a chat.

"Whatsa pretty lil' girl like you doin' ou' so late by yerself?" he asked, flushing a little bit as he eyed her in an hopeful way.

Leila went red but she was spared the trouble of coming up with an answer that sidestepped his flirting by Snuffles who raised his head and let out a low growl that had the unmistakable air of a threat.

Stan's eyes widened in alarm and Leila hastily interjected with an over bright smile "Just thought it'd be better to travel in the night and not waste any daylight on just getting to London!" while keeping a firm grip on Snuffle's head. She was grateful for his presence but she didn't want to cause trouble when she was trying to keep a low profile and having the bus conductor's face ripped off by her new pet was not going to help her stay off the Ministry radar.

'_This is one weird dog...' _mused Leila.

"Visitin' family?" he asked, eyeing Snuffles warily.

"I don't have any family." she responded automatically, still too distracted by the road to really pay attention to what she was saying. She groaned internally at the silence that followed. Even Snuffles seemed to go rigid at her statement.

"So.. yer 'n orphan or somethin'?"

Leila cursed herself. "Yeah." '_I'm going to get caught even before I reach Gringotts just because I can't keep my mouth shut.' "_Just going to Diagon Alley to pick up school stuff." she added, trying to soothe over the awkwardness.

"Ah.. What's yer name?" asked Stan, his curiousity already piqued. Leila thanked the heavens for the newly cut side bangs that efficiently hid her scar.

"Hannah Longbottom." '_Well Neville did want me to be his sister...'_

Sirius relaxed when Stan stopped making small talk and turned to his paper. He certainly hadn't planned for this to happen. He only intended to just catch a glimpse of her before he headed back up north to Hogwarts. But now, he found that he was quite delighted at how things worked out. This way, he could stay by Leila's side and find Pettigrew quickly. He had a gut feeling that Moony wouldn't have told anybody about their animagus transformations, making this a very effective disguise.

Besides, he didn't think he could leave her side now. Not anymore, not ever. He observed her tired eyes and her frail form. He felt a flash of anger. She clearly hadn't been eating or sleeping and her 'no family' statement made him queasy. Where was Petunia? Come to think of it, he had been close to their house, where she was supposed to be. So why was she alone and miserable to boot?

She suddenly narrowed her eyes at Stan. Instantly annoyed, Sirius looked up to glare at him and send his attention back to the paper away from Leila. That's when he caught sight of the front page. A skeleton looked back at him. '_So that's what she was looking at. Me.' _

"That man.. he was on the muggle news..." she said slowly, looking confused.

Stan chuckled. ""Course he was! Where've you bin' Hannah? Sirius Black 's bin' all o'er every news."

Sirius tensed, waiting for her reaction. What she said next almost made him change back into a man from shock.

"Who's Sirius Black?"

'_WHO is Sirius Black? WHAT?!'_

A few hours later, the rather subdued and slightly paranoid pair, got off the bus at the Leaky Cauldron entrance, with Stan dragging her trunk out.

"Right then.." said Leila, nervously shifting from one foot to another. "Bye Stan!"

"Bye Hannah!" said Stan, looking a bit put out, something that Sirius noticed and scowled internally '_Honestly.. Bugger off, will you?'_

Leila grabbed her trunk and started pulling it towards the muggle area. Snuffles barked and caught hold of her skirt once more, trying to pull her towards the Leaky Cauldron, away from the dingy, questionable muggle street.

"Snuffles stop!" whispered Leila frantically, digging her heels, resisting the massive's dog's tugging. "I can't be seen! I've got the magical law enforcement after me! We need to find a place in muggle London and sneak in tomorrow, get money and scat!"

Snuffles stared at her in astonishment. '_Wha...? What the hell did you do, Leila?" _The mention of law enforcement set him at edge. He was supposed to be on the run too and whatever she had done, Sirius was willing to bet his new found freedom on the fact that it couldn't possibly be worse than what he was being hunted down for.

"There you are Leila! Thank Merlin!" exclaimed a voice from the Leaky Cauldron entrance.

Cornelius Fudge stood there, his face sagging with relief and delight.


	5. Chapter 5

Fatigue, humiliation and sick realization weighed on her, depriving her of what little sleep she had. She was still stuck in the Hospital Wing, having been declared too weak after her fall at the Quidditch match. She hadn't slept properly in months and she had lost the Gryffindor team the match against Hufflepuff, captained by a boy she had finally accepted to herself that she might kind of, sort of have feelings for after over a year of making 'goo-goo eyes' at him (as succinctly put by Oliver Wood). The isolation that Madame Pomfrey subjected her had forced her to think about what the Dementors did to her and she had realized that the screaming was her mother in the moments before she was murdered. All in all, Leila wasn't in the best of spirits.

She wished she had some distraction. It was late at night and none of her friends would be allowed to see her, forcing her to think of another thing she didn't want to. Snuffles. Leila really just wanted to write it off as exhaustion but she knew she had seen him at the edge of the stadium today, watching her.

Snuffles weighed on her mind heavily since that night. Staring dismayed at Cornelius Fudge, she has reached out for the dog trying to hold on to what felt like her only support. Her fingers trailed through thin air. He had vanished as the Minister appeared.

Leila had spent every night wondering if she had imagined him. Sometimes, she reluctantly told herself that it must have been caused by trauma - her mind had conjured up a spirit for her to keep her sane that night, a subconscious coping mechanism of sorts. But on the days she didn't want to believe he wasn't real, she reached into the bottom of her trunk and pulled out the skirt that had the imprints of the dog's fangs on it. She fought the urge to track down Stan Shunpike to confirm it.

Leila told no one about him. She got the feeling she shouldn't.

And he was here, in Hogwarts. The wolf dog that haunted her.

A thud outside the door startled her.

'_Dementors!_' she though wildly, irrationally. '_Or maybe… Snuffles?_'

A shadow of a very much human shape slipped inside, causing her heart to constrict with disappointment.

"Potter? You up?"

"Zabini?!"

"Figures you'd be up, looking for the next source of trouble."

"Bit rich coming from you. What're you doing here?"

"Malfoy's become the hero of the common room with his impressions of you falling off your broom, although his rendition involves a skull cracking open and not much dribbling out. It's quite funny to be honest."

"How kind of you to take the effort to update me."

"Well seeing as we're a strange cross of friends and enemies, I thought it appropriate to combine jeering and warning."

"On the plus side, you've given me something new to be depressed about. Hopefully it'll take the place of one of the other problems."

"Are you saying I'm helping? Now _I'm_ depressed." He had reached her bedside and fell on the seat with grace, looking bored, arrogant and annoyingly _cool_.

"Are you going to tell me _why_ you're here at the dead of the night?"

"I can't visit during the day. Your Gryffindor guard dogs will eat me alive and if I do survive, my lovely housemates will shove my wand up my arse for coming down to visit the great Girl-Who-Lived. So I snuck out."

"Okay, that answers the dead of the night bit. Now kindly move on to the _why_."

"Potter, you've been in here for three days. You were out after one night when you lost all the bones in your arm last year. I started thinking that you were dead this time and they were keeping it hush-hush because your ghost was molesting Cedric Diggory in the shower and they didn't want war between the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors to break out mid-term."

Leila just stared at him for a whole minute before cracking up. "Sometimes Blaise, I think I may love you just a little."

"You'd pick me over pretty boy Diggory? Oh golly gosh, that's so exciting." he replied in a perfect monotone.

"Good timing. I was looking for a distraction. I can never get sleep in this place."

"Potter?" asked Blaise, suddenly looking serious. "Jokes aside, that was a bad fall. This Dementor thing… It's going to kill you if they get in during the next match."

Leila pursed her lips. "Way to go, you've ruined my mood. I don't want to talk about it."

Blaise frowned a little. "Fine. But if you die, it'll put our weird friendship thing to an end and I can never top that in the list of things that infuriate Malfoy. Do you want him to be happy? Do you?"

"Emotional blackmail is not allowed." Leila sulked.

"Find a way Potter. Get your shit together. See you Monday!" with that, he swept out.

Leila sighed and leaned back into her pillow, feeling a bit better. Blaise and she always had a strange sort of relationship that started way back in first year, almost entirely fuelled by their mutual dislike of Malfoy. What started off as a piss-Malfoy-off tag team had evolved into something akin companionship although both of them were careful not to flaunt it publicly. Besides, it was hard to have a conversation over the sound of Ron and Draco's grinding teeth every time Blaise and Leila appeared to have something that resembled a civilized conversation in the open.

Leila lay deep in thought long after Blaise left. He had just given her something constructive to think about. It would be nice not be on the back foot all the time.  
It was time to have a chat with Professor Lupin.

It felt strange to Leila that just a few weeks ago, after winning the Quidditch match and Cedric coming onto the field with the cheering Gryffindors and _hugging_ her, a little red in his face, she had thought she would be king of Patronuses.

Now, as she found herself and Ron being dragged away from Hagrid's hut by Hermione, the moment felt like a lifetime ago.

He leapt at them out of nowhere, his arm twisting hers at her back, grabbing her wand.

"Stupefy!" she heard him rasp before everything went dark.

Leila slowly opened her eyes, feeling drowsy, like she had been knocked out a combination of drugs and cough medicine.

'_What in the world…?' _her memories came flooding back and she sat up in alarm. An arm was wrapped around her, forcing her back on the dusty sheets she had been laid out on.

"Lie down. You're still disoriented from the stunning curse." She heard him say quietly in her ears. She looked up into the gaunt face of Sirius Black. Leila instantly sat up again and shoved him off. She looked at the still figures of Ron and Hermione next to her in horror.

"What did you _do_?" she whispered, a lump forming in her throat.

Black just stared at her, with an unreadable expression.

Rage built in her chest and she turned and faced him, the volume of her voice rising with every word. "You wanted _me_ dead, not them! You should've killed just me, you fucking psychopath."

Black shook his head. "They're stunned, just like you were. I was going to revive them after checking you were alright…"

But Leila had stopped hearing a word he said. Her ears were ringing and her fury at the man who got her parents murdered, who sat next to her now and tried to _talk_ to her like it was a normal thing to do…

She grabbed his throat and knocked him onto the ground. Judging from Black's stunned expression, he hadn't seen it coming and didn't look prepared to defend himself. She wrenched the wand away from his hand and sat atop his legs, one hand still pressing on his throat.

"You murdering, sick, son of a bitch. First my parents, now _them_." She raised her fist back and Black didn't even try stopping her as she sent it barreling into his stomach. She removed her other hand from his throat and rained punch after punch on his solar plexus. Her blows were too weak to have affected an average man but Black's ribs protruded from his body and he was as weak with malnutrition as she was, so they did hurt.

He still didn't raise a hand to stop her.

"Fight back you bastard! Don't just lie there! You owe me at least that much!" Leila shouted at him, tears prickling at her eyes, her repressed grief surfacing. Sirius own eyes prickled. He reached out a bony hand and clenched it around her hair, pulling her head back and forcing her to meet his eyes. "I owe you more than that. Much, much more."

Green eyes met gray ones. Her hands stilled.

"Snuffles?"

Hermione and Ron came to, struggling to work out where they were. Their eyes fell on a figure, pale and huddled, with her knees drawn up, back pressed against the wall, staring at the man by the window.

"Leila…" whispered Ron, terrified at the blank look and glassy eyes.

"What did you do to her?" Hermione hissed at Black.

Black looked at them sorrowfully. "I'm sorry if I hurt you. I just needed the rat. It was the only way…" He turned his attention to a tiny cage where Scabbers was squealing and desperately trying to escape. He bent down and looked intently at the rat and said, "The cage is charmed, Peter. You can't get away."

Hermione and Ron exchanged an alarmed glance, mentally agreeing that Black was clearly unhinged and delirious. Both of them looked anxiously at Leila who looked like she was having some sort of mental breakdown, wide eyed and her eyes never leaving Black terrifying form.

"Leila." Ron said loudly, his voice ringing through the Shrieking Shack. Leila finally looked up at them and exhaled. "You're okay..." she whispered softly. "He didn't hurt you, just like he said."

The door crashed open and Remus Lupin stood at the entrance, his wild gaze travelling across the room before finally landing on Black and the caged Scabbers. He strode forward, his eyes on the rat, stopping when he reached Black's side. His voice trembled as he said, "It was _him_. Not you. Not me. _Him_ all along."

Black nodded, looking grim. "Forgive me, Remus." Lupin responded with a strangled laugh. "Twelve years in Azkaban and _you're_ apologizing to _me_?"

They grabbed each other in a brotherly embrace, years of regret and shared grief thick in the air around them.

"You!" shrieked Hermione, breaking the spell. "You .. t-traitor! All this time, I covered for you but you were with him!"

"Hermione," began Lupin, taking a step back towards her.

"Get away from me, Werewolf!" she snarled, moving further back on the bed, dragging an ashen Ron with her.

The silence was deafening. Lupin quietly dropped his hand and looked away.

Then a quiet voice spoke up from the corner. "I think we need to give Black and Professor Lupin the benefit of the doubt here." Leila said softly. Her expression had cleared and her face was an expressionless mask, eyes hard. It was the trademark Leila Potter calm. She stood up and looked out at the window behind Black.

"I think it's full moon tonight, Professor." she addressed Lupin in the same, eerily calm voice. "I don't think any of you have any objections taking this inside to the castle? I suspect you have plenty of explaining to do and Dumbledore will need to hear this as well." She walked to the door, then turned and looked at all the four stunned occupants of the room.

Sirius finally spoke up, "I'm not going anywhere till I kill Pettigrew."

Leila's lips tightened. "I'm throwing you a rope, taking a leap of faith, because you protected me when I was alone and miserable. You said you aren't a murderer and I'm willing to believe you. But if you cross that line and try to turn into one, you become the man the world thinks you are. You can't kill him and certainly not in memory of James Potter. I will not allow you to do that. Please, Snuffles…" her voice held a trace of a plea.

They both stared at each other till Sirius finally said, "Very well. Let's go." All of them filed out in complete silence, with the exception of the agitated rat in the charmed cage, who knew his game was up.

_They sat in a circle around the coffee table, talking about nothing important. Leila studied them carefully. James Potter, Lily Potter, Sirius Black and Rems Lupin were seated in dark, comfortable armchairs, looking relaxed. Lily and James looked the way they always did in her dreams – bright eyed, casual and smiles on their lips. Remus and Sirius looked quite different from the ones she now knew. Remus wore clothes that looked crisp and in good condition, his hair had very few flecks of gray and his face less lined. The sight of Sirius made her heart skip a beat. Full faced, lean, muscle, healthy and a devilish grin on his face, he looked nothing like the one she was starting to get to know. This one's eyes didn't have hints of darkness in them. They didn't notice her, seated on the small footstool by the sofa. _

_She felt him before she heard him. _

'_The beginning of the end of our time is here Leila…' his voice hissed in her head. 'And darling, you made it possible. This time, you will die and I make sure they accompany you.'_

_Leila heard the words leave her mouth, "He's coming for us. He's going to kill you because of me again."_

_The four adults turned and stared at her. All of them recoiled in slight horror, looking at her as if seeing a ghost. _

_Leila looked at them despairingly, not really understanding their reaction or the words that seemed to be tumbling out of her mouth of their own accord. She met Sirius' wide eyes. "I might have made a mistake Sirius... I should've let you kill Pettigrew." _

"_Leila…?" whispered James, sounding tentative, his expression one of regret and grief. _

"_Dad, I'm so sorry." whispered Leila. "I bought war down on you once and I've done it again. Please get out of here, all of you… I can't let you stand between me and him again."_

_The floor started shaking... Leila shut her eyes tight, willing her head to clear, make sense of what was happening, of the words that seemed to be coming from deep within her. _

Her eyes snapped wide open and met anxious gray ones.

"Wha..? Sirius?" she mumbled tiredly, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She looked around and was confused to find herself slumped against the tree by the great lake, with Sirius kneeling next to her, looking worried. "What's going on?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows at her. "You and I were supposed to go meet Hagrid for tea over an hour ago. You didn't show, Ron and Herm had no idea where you were so we went looking for you."

"Oh. Right! Sorry, sorry! I ran into Bl… another friend here and when he left I had time to kill so decided to just sit by the lake. Must've fallen asleep…"

Sirius frowned a little. "Sleep well?" he asked casually.

"Yep." she said calmly. Sirius pursed his lips.

They both walked in silence. The week had been madness, even by Leila's standards. Pettigrew was being sent to Azkaban, Sirius was set free (although with a partial apology. "Fucking bastards, of course they don't think they owe me anything…" said Sirius darkly), Snape spilling the beans about Remus which meant he was out of a job again, much to the consternation of every non Slytherin student (although Blaise admitted that Professor Lupin was pretty decent for a man who howled at the moon and chased his tail once every month. Leila knew that was the closest to a compliment she would get out of a him so she chose to ignore the snarkiness.)

Dumbledore had even agreed to let Leila live with Sirius and Remus as long as she went to the Dursleys for the first two weeks of her summer holidays to keep the protection alive.

It had been a dream come true for her but as the holidays came closer, she was getting progressively nervous. Leila and Sirius had both stayed clear of talking about the Knight Bus incident and they were still rather nervous around one another. Leila didn't know how to deal with him nor he her. They were polite to each other and didn't get personal. She couldn't see how the new living arrangements would work if Remus wasn't there too.

They walked in silence towards Hagrid's hut. Fang came bounding out at them and almost knocked Leila down.

"Whoa! Relax Fang! You saw me just yesterday! Fang! Calm down!"

Hagrid came out, shaking his head. "Why are you talking logic to a dog Leila? He's not going to get it. It'd be nice though, to have a dog that knows exactly what you're saying. Probably won't have half my stuff destroyed by the hyperactive mutt!"

Leila met Sirius' eyes and they looked away, fighting down a grin. "I've got a skirt that says otherwise…" she murmured to Sirius. He grinned wickedly. "You should've known retribution is inevitable for naming a splendid, fearsome creature like me _Snuffles._"

"And Padfoot is the name of a warrior beast?!"

"Touche, Prongslet."

They both laughed and the wall between them came down. Sirius reached down and took her small hands into his and led her into Hagrid's hut, both of them smiling, hearts racing, unaware that minutes ago, Peter Pettigrew had injured the Aurors escorting him to Azkaban and was making a beeline to his master, waiting for him Albania.

***** Alternate Universe*****

Lily came down the stairs, her mood as black as the sky outside. Sirius and James were already down, their faces mirroring hers, looking into their coffee mug. Remus came up from behind Lily, looking equally tired and less than cheerful.

Drowning in their own misery, not one of them noticed that pretty much everyone in the room was equally surly.

Lily looked glumly around at the living room. Her eyes fell on the footstool. She looked away and as she did, she spotted Remus and Sirius also look at the exact same footstool. Her eyes met James, who was staring at her.

Slowly, all of them looked at one another, comprehension drawing on them.

"Did everyone… the dream last night…" James broke the silence first.

"The one where we're all… you know …"

"Leila." Sirius supplied the word everyone was skirting around.

The silence was deafening. James turned on his heel, marched to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder. Hurling it into the fireplace, he said tersely, "Albus. Something's going on. We need to talk. Now!"


	6. Chapter 6

Leila had hoped her two week stint at the Dursleys' would be uneventful. It had certainly started off on a promising note. Once her Uncle got over the indignation of having been _burdened_ by her when she had a godfather, followed by his absolute horror at the fact that he was now distantly connected to someone who had done time in prison, he was rather buoyant at the news that he would have to have her under his roof only for fifteen days henceforth. Combined with Leila's delight at precisely the same thing, the atmosphere in the house had been almost amicable.

But this time, trouble came from an unexpected source – Dudley.

Her massive cousin, having hit his teens, had finally reached the phase where everything his parents said wasn't the way of the world. One of the many things that seemed to undergo a transformation was his attitude towards Leila. There was no love lost between them but part of his general rebellion against his parents included having a slightly more civil relationship with her. This was further cemented into an almost grudging, sibling-like rapport when Leila took pity and covered for him when he came back home with bruises from a gang fight with his old school pals.

All in all, Leila was feeling rather content. Until Dudley decided to get his old mates Piers and Malcolm home one evening for dinner and a match on the telly. Leila should've figured something was up when they spent the entire evening staring at her with a slack-jawed expression rather than the customary punch to the stomach and juvenile insults. She had, overnight, become Dudley's hot cousin. Now she had to endure a troupe of adolescent boys hanging outside her door, waiting for to come out to awkwardly proposition her. It didn't help that Leila still cringed at the sight of them, her instincts honed by years of being beaten up by the same boys. Her only comfort in all of this was that this seemed to horrify Dudley as much as it did her.

"What the fuck, Potter!" he howled one evening after he managed to throw the boys out. "My friends, _MY FRIENDS, _fancy you! Are they insane? Who would want to be with a freak like you? I want my friends back the way they used to be!"

"You think I'm enjoying this?" she hollered back at him. "They're creeping me out! If Piers tries to walk in when I'm showering one more time, I will make YOU pay with your life!"

"They won't hang out with me unless you're around." moped Dudley. "Bastards can only think with their dicks now. I swear, if I have to listen to Malcolm talk to me about your tits again…"

"Eeew! Why would you even tell me that?!"

"I HAD TO LISTEN TO IT! I HAD TO LISTEN TO HIM TALK ABOUT MY _COUSIN'S_ TITS! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW _DISTURBING_ THAT IS?"

"Ahem…" an uncomfortable cough sounded from the kitchen entrance, making Leila and Dudley turn around, still scowling from their screaming match. To their absolute horror, they found Vernon and Petunia Dursley, still wearing their coats having just come back from their dinner. And to top it all off, standing behind them, with his eyebrows raised, was Sirius Black.

"Er… Girl...W- We ran into him outside. Apparently, he's …er… here to pick you up." stuttered Petunia, throwing the man behind her a slightly terrified glance.

"Righto. Hi." muttered Leila, flushing a dark red. '_Christ, talk about bad timing…' _

Dudley squeaked and ran upstairs at record speed. His new found, tentative camaraderie with Leila had done nothing to dispel his fear of wizards. Vernon and Petunia quickly marched into the kitchen, clearly relieved at the chance to put some considerable space between themselves and Sirius. The change of proximity seemed to give Vernon back some of his courage and his ever-present irritation with Leila.

Glaring at her, he said, "Tell your ruddy kind they can't just walk into my house whenever they please."

Leila groaned internally. She gave Sirius an apologetic look. His eyebrows went up even higher.

"I didn't know either." she told her Uncle calmly, hoping this wouldn't escalate. Her friends and the entire Weasley household knew the Dursleys were unpleasant from experience and she knew that Hagrid, Ron and Hermione had told Remus and Sirius quite a bit (Leila had stuck to her principle of not discussing her life at home with anybody and shrugged off their questions.) She did not want any drama in front of Sirius and was hoping her Aunt and Uncle would let it go.

"Well then, get out already. Good riddance." snapped Petunia nastily. Leila bit down the "Right back at you" at the tip of her tongue, reminding herself that Sirius didn't need to see this.

She nodded quickly to Sirius and said, "I didn't really unpack anyway. Just need to shove a few things in. It'll take me two minutes. Why don't you come up? I could use your help with the trunk."

Sirius smiled and it didn't reach his eyes. In a pleasant tone, he said, "Actually, I was hoping to have a chat with your Aunt and Uncle. I haven't seen Petunia since Lily and James' wedding and we have so much to talk about…" Nobody missed the chill in his tone.

Leila froze at the bottom of the stairs. "Sirius…" she warned, her own tone becoming equally chilly.

"Nice place you've got here, Petunia." he said, ignoring Leila. "Any chance I could get a tour? I've only heard about the cupboard under the stairs and clearly there's so much more…"

Vernon and Petunia backed away from the towering man, the glint in his eyes promising a very unpleasant conversation.

"She has a bedroom now!" squeaked Vernon, trying to push his wife behind him.

"Now?" asked Sirius, cocking his head to the side slightly, his eyes narrowing. "You mean, as of recently?"

"That's more than the freak deserves the ungrateful brat." snarled Petunia, who found her courage even if her trembling body said otherwise.

Sirius went completely still.

Leila strode towards them and placed herself firmly between her godfather and her guardians.

"Sirius, that's enough." she said quietly, her poker face betraying none of her turmoil. She _hated_ it when her personal life revealed itself to anybody outside of this house. And even if a part of her wanted Sirius to hex them the way Hagrid had on her eleventh birthday, majority of her wanted him out of the house and away from the sordid mess that was her childhood.

"I don't think so." he said, gritting his teeth.

"Then you have to curse me first if you want to get at them." she said coldly. They stared at each other for almost a minute before Sirius backed away. He turned on his heel and marched to the stairs.

"Top and first right." she said calmly.

Vernon released the breadth he had been holding. "Girl, if your kind ever walks in here and threaten us again…"

Leila spun on her feet and glowered at them. "You'll what?"

Vernon narrowed his eyes at her. "Just get out, Potter. You two deserve each other. Go live with the bloody criminal. Birds of a feather…"

"Don't push your luck." Leila snarled. "I didn't stop him out of any regard for you. I just don't want a scene. I could call him back down and tell him about stuff over and beyond the cupboard."

With that, she marched upstairs and promptly crashed into Sirius. He had stayed on the landing to eavesdrop and judging from the expression on his face, he heard every word. Leila grabbed his arm and practically dragged him to her room. Wordlessly, she threw her remaining clothes in and took down the countdown chart. Locking her trunk, she grabbed Hedwig's empty cage (he was off delivering a letter to Hermione) and turned to Sirius, who had been watching her silently.

"Let's go. Please." she said tiredly.

"Did they ever hit you?" he asked quietly.

"No." she said flatly. "Dudley and I fought plenty but that's not unusual for two kids of the same age, living under the same roof. They never physically abused me, if that's what you're asking."

"I don't believe you."

Leila sighed. "I don't care if you do. It's not really any of your business anyway."

She regretted it the minute she said it. He advanced towards her, his face a mask of fury. "_Not my business, is it?"_

Leila was afraid of him at that instant but her exasperation won out. "It's over, alright? Nothing you or anybody does is going to change what has already happened. So yeah, I don't want to talk about it and seeing as I now have you and Remus, I definitely don't care to fix what goes on in this house. What I do desperately want is some peace of mind and I want you to respect that. Just because you and Moony are back in my life, it does not give you the license to come barreling into it overnight and try to be heroes."

She stopped to catch a breath and stilled at the stunned and hurt expression on Sirius' face. She sighed and dropped her trunk. Stepping close to him, she wrapped her arms around his rigid frame and buried her face into crook of his neck.

"Someday," she said softly, "I'll tell you all about it. I just need some time. Please… Please take me home."

Sirius pulled away from her embrace, picked up her trunk and swept out, leaving her to practically race after him. He stayed silent the entire train journey to London and the kept his eyes fixed on the underground map all the way to the flat in north London.

'_What a bad start…' _thought Leila miserably, as she trudged up the stairs after him, up a rather lovely Victorian building. One reaching the third floor, Sirius stopped in front of the only door on the hallway and turned his key. He marched in and disappeared from her sight.

Leila sighed and slowly ambled in after him. '_This is ridiculous… How am I supposed to live with him if he's ignoring me?' _

Leila tentatively stuck her head into a warm, tastefully done living room. Standing in the midst of it all, was a sight that made Leila's doubts and despair vanish. Remus Lupin stood at the centre of the room, wearing a broad smile and holding up a cake.

"Welcome home, Leila."

She ran up to him and threw her arms around him. "I love you and the cake." she told him happily.

"Not necessarily in that order, I'll bet." said Remus, amused, as she eagerly nicked a bit of the frosting. "I love you equally." she said with a grin.

"Good save!"

Leila settled in under a day. Her room had a view of the local park and her window ledge was a large one, allowing her to sit and look outside. It immediately became her favourite place in the house. The room was large, with a massive bed, desk, a wizarding clock and walk in closet. The colour scheme was a light blue that complemented the dark wooden panels. It made Leila wonder who did the place up.

"Sirius and I both did." chuckled Remus. "We had no idea what you would like so we kept it safe."

"It's perfect!" Leila told him.

"Good." said Remus. "The last time we helped, it was for your nursery. James made us paint everything in pink when he found out it he was going to have a girl. It was like walking into a candy explosion."

Remus burst out laughing at the revolted expression on her face. "Don't worry, Lily intervened and toned it down to something sensible. James never let up though. He was so excited at the prospect of having a baby girl, he went completely mad with all the pink clothes and dolls. I think the only gender neutral gift you ever got was from Sirius – your first toy broomstick. James went mental. You kept zooming around in it and he would keep chasing you, begging you to get off. He almost hexed Sirius for that."

Leila shook her head in amusement. "I thought he'd be pleased that I took to a broomstick!"

"Oh he was sure you'd play for England someday, but he wasn't quite ready to have his baby girl doing anything dangerous. I don't think you ever made contact with any surface in the house. He just wouldn't put you down! Lily, Sirius, Peter and I were sure you'd never learn to walk because of him."

"Well, Mum will be happy to know I walk just fine;. And dad will be… er... conflicted about my being the youngest Seeker in a century."

Remus laughed. "He would've been unbelievably proud! But he'd have found a way to sneak in during every one of your matches and hex everyone on the other team or personally hop on a broom and chase after the bludgers coming at you."

"And it would've irreparably broken his heart to see the constant danger you put yourself in or how you spent your entire childhood stuffed in a cupboard, ill treated by your own family." came Sirius' voice quietly from the doorway. He was leaning against the frame, looking at her.

Remus stiffened and looked between the two of them. He had found out why Sirius had come in angry last night and had made it clear that he was on Sirius' side, but he wasn't going to get involved in the fight as well because somebody needed to keep the peace.

He quietly left the room, seeing an opportunity for them to reconcile.

Sirius walked up to her, took her hand and led her to the bed. He settled down in the centre of the bed, stretched out his legs, leaned back into the headboard and beckoned for her to lie next to him. She curled up on his side, her head resting on his chest, listening to his heart beat.

"I was fifteen when I ran away from home." he said softly, running his fingers through her hair. "We never got along, my family and I. They were a prominent pureblood family and they had views that didn't sit well with me. I had always been different and I paid the price for it at home. My mum was particularly harsh. It just got worse after I went to school. I was the first Gryffindor in a family of Slytherins and Ravenclaws."

Leila hid her surprise. It looked like Sirius and she had more in common when it came to disagreeable families than she thought.

"It was around the time Voldemort was rising in power." he continued. "My family was one of the many that supported him initially. They thought he had the right idea… They valued the so-called purity of blood much above anything else."

"But you didn't?" asked Leila tentatively.

Sirius snorted. "Merlin, no. Things finally came to a head in the summer after my fifth year. I left and they severed all ties with me apart from my Great Uncle and my cousin Andromeda. She was in the same boat, having married a Muggleborn."

"Where'd you go?" asked Leila, wrapping her arms around him tight, discomfited at the thought of a young Sirius, out alone with no place to go. She knew _exactly_ what that felt like. Sirius was clearly thinking of last summer too as he tightened his hold on her as well.

"Like you, my friends were my family. I went straight to your dad's place. Your grandparents already treated me like their son and I was welcomed with open arms, exactly as the Weasleys would've done for you."

Leila released her breath. "They sound amazing." she said, wistfully.

Sirius smiled sadly into her hair. "They were the kindest, warmest, bravest people I knew. You take after your grandparents quite a bit. They would've loved you to bits. There hasn't been a female child in the Potter family for generations. Your grandmother always hoped James and Lily would have one. It's a pity both of them died just before your parents got married."

Leila smiled. Sometimes, after her life with the Dursleys, it amazed her that so many people had loved and wanted her.

"But Leila, we both know that turning our backs on our families, however abusive and horrible they are, doesn't change anything. The hurt never leaves nor does our inexplicable desire to protect them from outside threat, especially if it's in defense of you. I understand why you did what you did, but it doesn't mean I won't pummel the Dursleys to the ground the first chance I get."

"Then let's just stay away from them as much as we can." said Leila simply.

"Alright. For now."

Leila marveled the ease with which the three of them settled down to being a family. It felt absolutely natural, watching Sirius and Remus fight over breakfast, play cards late into the night by the fire, wandering around muggle London with them, trying in vain to explain various muggle contraptions and be equally amused and mortified by the both of them keenly pointing out and exclaiming loudly at random, everyday objects like rollerblades and phone booths. For the first time ever, Leila felt regret at the thought of returning to Hogwarts.

She didn't know how she would live without Remus' warm "good mornings", his patient explanations of the various magical gadgets around the house ("No, I don't know what that does, Moony! This is only the second magical house I've been to!") and his fantastic cooking. He was slowly becoming the father figure she craved for and Remus too enjoyed being a replacement for James though, as he pointed out, he was "less insanely protective and a less of a prankster" than her father.

Leila's warm, comfortable relationship with Moony was juxtaposed by her intense, turbulent one with Sirius. He was feral about her, snarling at innocent bystanders, especially boys, if they as much as looked at her, he fought viciously with her over little thing and seemed to take every opportunity to steal her away to someplace where it could be just the two of them. In less than an hour after a shouting match, he would come bounding in, his eyes sparkling, insisting on both of them playing a prank on Moony or going out for ice cream.

It wasn't that Leila minded, but it worried her. From Remus' stories of their days back in school, Sirius had been the exact opposite. He was the Marauder who was most laid back one and had no emotional inclinations towards anybody outside of his three best friends and later, Lily. Leila couldn't help but be a bit afraid that the old Marauder Sirius had died in Azkaban, only to be replaced by this new one with his extreme mood swings. When she raised her concerns with Remus one day when they were alone, he had hesitantly pointed out that quite a bit of the old Sirius was very much there and really, she was the sole recipient of most of his moodiness.

"What are you saying?" asked Leila, indignantly, "Are you implying _I'm_ winding him up?"

"Not at all. I'm just saying he's both at his best and worst around you because you seem to have that effect on him."

"What effect?"

"I don't know, Leila. I've never seen Sirius like this so it's new to me as well. I can only surmise that the years he has missed is weighing on him and he has some sort of guilt about how his reckless chase of Peter led you to the Dursleys. And Sirius doesn't like not being involved in every part of your life but you're not the sharing type. It's driving him crazy."

"I have nothing to share." Leila said irritably. Remus smiled sadly at her. "Yes, you do. You never talk about your childhood, you never say anything about what happened with Quirrel or in Slytherin's Chamber. And you certainly don't tell either of us why you wake up in the night screaming or struggling to breathe."

Leila froze at his words, the last part making her a bit nauseous.

"How'd you… Am I keeping you up?" she asked slowly, horrified.

"No! And that's not even remotely close to the point I'm trying to make here!"

Leila looked away and said quietly, "It's nothing. I occasionally have these awful nightmares. They're just so…. Real."

"What are they about?" coaxed Remus gently.

Leila pursed her lips. Her nightmares now regularly involved her parents, Sirius and Remus. Off late, other people, most of who she couldn't recognize was there. She vividly recalled a couple staring at the silhouette of what looked like Neville Longbottom, reaching out towards him. Then there was Dumbledore, except he looked different. Not so much older as much as exhausted and battle weary. In every dream, Voldemort would make an appearance and murder everybody in sight and make her watch or even claim she was responsible.

Leila knew there was something about off about the dreams but she couldn't place her finger on what exactly bothered her the most about them. Remus continued to look at her expectantly. She took a deep breath and mustered a smile. "I don't remember most of it."

Remus leaned back and frowned. "See, now we both know you're lying. Leila, I understand you not wanting to tell us. Your life has been difficult and it's remarkable that you've learnt to compartmentalize and deal with it without turning to anybody. I also understand that after all these years, we can't just jump back into being as close as we would've had things have gone differently. I'm perfectly happy to work towards that and wait however long it takes. But Sirius… well, like I said, when it comes to you, he's not quite the man I know him to be."

Leila couldn't help thinking that even she wasn't quite the girl she normally was when she was around her godfather either. He seemed to have an overpowering effect on her, like her body, her moods and even her senses were strung to his whims. Every spiral or flight of his seemed to wash her with a wave of enhanced emotion. And even she was shocked at how much she could actually shout at someone. It wasn't like her to shout at anybody let alone a man she was starting to think of as the centre of her universe.

It made Leila restless and agitated because from what she had seen of Sirius Black thus far, it was going to be a bumpy ride before either of them learned to behave like rational human beings around each other.

On her birthday, Hagrid, Ron and Hermione had sent her tonnes of chocolate, much to Remus' delight ("You're a chocolate junkie too! Fantastic!"). He and Sirius had gone a bit overboard, getting her a plethora of assorted gifts that ranged from new Quidditch gloves to a set of dress robes.

"Whywould I _ever_ need to wear this?" she asked, though she didn't manage the words to come across as exasperated as in her head. The dress robe was stunning, a dark green one that flowed down into elegant silver swirls.

"Well for one, it's time you started doing something about your wizarding wardrobe. You are always walking around in muggle clothes, even in school." pointed out Remus.

"That's because I _like_ muggle clothes. Robes were never really my thing and I don't like wearing them unless I'm in class. But this… Wow… This is beautiful."

"Good!" Sirius said brightly. "I'd love to see you in that soon." He smiled at her, and something about the statement and the way he said it made Leila's heart flutter.

It was, without a doubt, the best birthday she had ever had.

The days rolled by and Leila mentally checked off days to the Quidditch World Cup. Mr Weasley had gotten them all prime tickets and Sirus and Remus were invited along too. Remus had politely declined, saying he had a job interview at an old wizarding library lined up on the evening of the match.

Sirius, n the other hand, seemed to have abandoned all pretense of looking for work on the claim that he could financially afford to never work ever again in his life seeing as he inherited all of the Black family estates and gold. Neither Leila nor Remus had the heart to argue with him as they both thought the he deserved to do what he wanted after more than a decade in Azkaban, although both of them privately agreed that full time work could help get some sense of stability to his hyperactivity. He excitedly agreed to come along and banged on about how brilliant the Irish team was.

Two nights before the match, Leila was plagued with yet another dream. But this one was different from the rest. This one felt closer to home. She woke up as the old muggle man fell dead from whatever spell that _thing _on the armchair had shot at him. She buried her head in her hands, breathing heavily, moaning softly at the blinding pain radiating from her scar. She had done her best not to think about Pettigrew or his escape. It was the proverbial elephant in the house. Leila shuddered at the the implications of the dream. '_He can hold a wand…'_

"Want to talk about it?" said a voice quietly, by her window. Leila jumped in shock and instinctively reached for her wand at her bedside, before she realized it was only Sirius. He was sitting on her favourite window ledge, looking at her with an intensity that burned through her.

'_Has he been watching me sleep?'_

Suddenly, she became acutely aware that her night clothes consisted of a pair of short shorts and a shirt so loose, it slipped off her shoulders, leaving them bare. She fought the urge the duck under the covers. '_Don't be ridiculous, he's your godfather, not your cousin's hormonal friends.'_ she thought embarrassed, completely missing the way his eyes seemed to darken and his jaw clenched, before he averted his eyes to her headboard.

"Not really." she said out aloud. "Just a really weird dream."

"Uh huh. Looked like more than just a really weird dream. You were… hissing."

Leila groaned. "Parseltongue, presumably. His snake was in the dream and …" '_And I was screaming at it not to hurt that muggle man." _she finished in her head.

"_His _snake?"

"Voldemort's." Leila said bluntly, not in the mood to come up with an elaborate lie. She was pleased to see that Sirius didn't flinch at the name. "He has a massive snake, he calls her Nagini, I think."

"Calls? As in present tense?" Sirius demanded, striding over to her bed, looking down at her with an alarmed look.

Leila shrank back a bit. "I don't know… That dream felt pretty real. Wormtail was with him and he-he could hold a wand. And my scar is killing me. It only ever hurts like this when Voldemort is around. And this dream felt a bit different from the ones I usually have. Less cryptic. It was like watching a movie."

Her forehead furrowed as she tried to remember details. She needed to know if it was real. _'The house… Riddle Manor, was it? Where in the country is it? That old man's accent sounded north-western. ? Is there a way I can check the local papers in that area? What if..?'_ Her trail of thought came to an abrupt end when she noticed that Sirius was still staring at her, his eyes tight. She had forgotten about him and it slowly dawned on her that in her shock, she spilled the beans on her dreams. '_Now I'm never going to hear the end of this.' _she thought, bracing herself for the onslaught.

Sirius however, stayed silent. He sat at the edge of the bed and looked out of the window.

"It's just like him…" he murmured.

"What?" asked Leila, baffled.

"Wormtail. Peter. The minute he escapes he latches himself to the next biggest bully in the playground. He likes being protected, taken care of and he likes to swear allegiance to whoever can do that." Sirius' tone was acerbic. "Back in school, it was James and I. Then he sold us out to Voldemort. Now with the entire Ministry on his tail, he goes running straight back to the Dark Lord because he's been backed against a wall and can't survive on his own."

Leila watched him carefully, his face drawn and dismay radiating from him. And she understood.

"You thought he wouldn't… that he wouldn't be capable of stooping as low as to run to Voldemort and help him back to power, just for his benefit."

His silence answered her question.

"It was a dream, Sirius." she told him quietly, reaching out to touch his shoulder. "Just a stupid dream. He may have just gone south to avoid the Dementors…"

Sirius' posture didn't change as he brooded.

Leila got up and wrapped her arms around him from behind and held him. "I'm sorry I stopped you from killing him."

Sirius leaned into her embrace and whispered. "No, don't ever apologize for that. You were right… James would've done the same. I only blame the Aurors… How could they let him escape? I swear to Morgana, the Aurors were infinitely more efficient when James and I joined back in the day. We were _warriors_. The peace after Voldemort's downfall has softened them all up, the bloody fools."

"They'll find him." she tried to reassure him.

"You mean the way they _successfully_ found me?" said Sirius, contemptuously.

They stayed silently like that till dawn, Sirius nestled in her arms, lost in memories and while Leila wondered how she ought to word her letter to Dumbledore. Whatever she may have told Sirius to pacify him, the dream was no ordinary one.

[Type text]


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N - To my reviewers, thank you. I love reading your feedback and it honestly makes my day and motivates me to write! Love you loads! **

**As you've noticed, the pace of the story has changed. That's because it's from this point that the story truly begins to differentiate from cannon in mane subtle ways and plot variations. So, enjoy the ride with Leila and Co. I know I am! Hope this pans out to meet your expectations :)**

The Burrow was even more packed than usual, with all of the Weasley siblings present. Sirius and Leila had floo'd in at 3 am, neither of them entirely awake. For all their enthusiasm about the match, it had taken a more meticulous Remus to kick them both out of bed half an hour prior to their scheduled departure time and physically shove them both towards the fireplace.

Mrs Weasley, like Remus, wasn't going and like Remus, was bizarrely enough, the only one really awake.

"Leila! You look wonderful! Being away from those muggles really does you plenty good!" she exclaimed pulling her into a hug.

"Mornin' Mrs W." replied Leila, hugging her back. "Tell me you have coffee, please."

"Of course. And…" she turned tentatively to Sirius who had been watching their interaction keenly, "S-Sirius? Can I call you that?"

Leila started. She had forgotten that only Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had met Sirius. She stepped back, looped her arm around his waist and pulled him closer, giving him a reassuring smile. "Sirius, I don't know if you've met Mrs Weasley before, but if you haven't, let me introduce you to the greatest cook, Christmas sweater knitter and the only woman who can genuinely scare Fred and George." she said teasingly, grinning at the older woman.

Sirius carefully held out his hand and grasped Molly's. "I've never had the pleasure. Molly left school before we came in. But…" he hesitated, "I knew Fabian and Gideon well. They were in the Order before… Well, they were one of the finest men I have ever known and the only pair who could've outdone James and I at making inappropriate jokes and driving Mad Eye mental."

Molly's eyes softened and she laughed softly. "Yes, yes they were. Troublesome twins run in the family."

And just like that, the ice was broken. Leila smiled in relief. She knew that Sirius had been actively avoiding people in the wizarding world and she could hardly blame him. People still pointed out at him in Diagon Alley and fear was the immediate reaction. She had worried about how the Weasley parents would react given that Ron had already warned her in his letters that his mum had been voicing her apprehension at allowing Leila to live with a man who had been locked up for twelve years and a werewolf.

Arthur Weasley came down and cheerfully greeted Sirius with the same nonchalance that he had two years ago when he found Leila at the kitchen table after the twins' and Ron's midnight rescue from the Dursleys. Leila sipped her coffee slowly, letting the three adult's conversation wash over her.

The kitchen slowly filled up with Ron, the twins, Ginny and Hermione, who had come in the previous night. Hermione and Ron slouched down on the either side of her and the former took a sip of Leila's coffee. Ron just dropped his head on her shoulder and went back to sleep. Ginny was no better, sitting across from her.

The twins, on the other hand, went straight up to Sirius and bowed deep.

"Lord Padfoot!"

"Welcome to our humble home!"

"It is an honour to have your evil genius grace this barely upright dwelling…"

"…and we are further delighted you've left your cheerful, cloaked friends behind this time.."

"… bit of a bummer weren't they? Took the fun out of all the maraudering, let me tell you..."

"_Fred! Geroge!_ Could you be more sensitive?!" hissed Ginny, throwing Sirius a deeply apologetic look on behalf of her brothers.

"S'Okay Ginny!" said Sirius cheerfully. "I concur! Which reminds me boys, Leila says you've been working on something…" Sirius quickly stopped, catching the wide-eyed look she threw him, accompanied by a subtle head shake.

Leila had taken to occasionally loaning the twins some money to help with their experimental joke shop merchandise. ("It isn't loaning if we can't pay you back, Lil'Lu." Fred had said wryly, to which Leila had told him, "Consider it a long term investment. It isn't much at any rate, just a bit of gold every now and then when you really need it.") The overarching condition had been that they tell _no one_ about it because Mrs Weasley would positively kill all three of them if she found out. Leila had, however, mentioned it to Sirius, along with some of the things the twins had been working on and he had thought it was brilliant.

Leila had always wanted to help the Weasleys out but they would never take anything from her. Helping Fred and George gave her a small amount of satisfaction. And from what Remus told her about her Dad and Sirius, they were worse than the twins. Leila knew she would never be a prankster, nor did she aspire to be. But seeing as how the twins considered themselves to be the Marauders' legacy, sentimentality sealed any doubts she might have had.

"Later." muttered Fred to Sirius, who nodded, barely containing the excitement in his face.

'_It's nice to see him like this…' _mused Leila, gazing absently at Sirius.

"Well, let's go then, shall we? We have to meet the Diggorys halfway into the trek."

Leila sat up. "The Diggorys? They live nearby?" She hoped her voice sounded casual.

"Amos Diggory?" asked Sirius keenly. "I know him! Hufflepuff bloke, a couple of years above us in school. He worked for the Ministry, didn't he?"

"Still does." said Arthur. "Good man. He's heading the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. His son is in Hogwarts too, isn't he? I've heard great things about the boy… What?" asked Arthur, catching Fred and George's scowl.

"Pretty boy Diggory." sneered Fred.

"They're not a fan. Hufflepuff wiped them out the last match." said Hermione, grinning.

"Did not! If the Dementors hadn't shown up, Leila would've cleaned them out! She set the record for the shortest time in which the snitch was caught in Hogwarts history and it was against _Hufflepuff_ , in her _first_ year!"

Leila spoke up, "To be fair, Cedric wasn't captain then. And incidentally, the Dementors came in when I was chasing after him. He spotted the snitch before I did…"

"See? That's how you lose graciously, boys." Arthur said, smiling fondly at Leila.

Fred, George, Ron, Hermione and Ginny started laughing. Sirius and Arthur looked at them, puzzled.

"Leila fancies Diggory." explained George.

"They've been making eyes at each other for over a year now." supplied Ron with a smirk.

"Oh sod off…" said Leila, her face flushing, "And even if I did, it doesn't make my defense of him a biased one. Fact remains that he's an incredible Quidditch player. Can we leave?" she asked Arthur, trying to change the topic.

"Yeah, we don't want to keep _Cedric _waiting." laughed Ginny. Leila walked out in what she hoped was dignified silence.

Half an hour into the trek, it was clear that only Leila, Fred, George and Sirius had the stamina to plough on without threatening to sit down and refuse to get up. It worked out well for them because it let them go well ahead and keep a fair distance from the rest, allowing the twins to regale Leila and Sirius with stories of experiments gone terribly awry.

"Thank god for all the mad Quidditch training Wood put us through. Look at this sorry lot." laughed Fred as they stopped to wait for the rest of the party, struggling to climb up the hill.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I'll miss him this year." Leila said wistfully. "He was the first person to tell me all about Quidditch and five minutes into the talk he's assuring me that Bludgers have never killed anyone, just maimed a few people for life."

"You were his golden girl. He literally cried when you missed the finals in first year after you were knocked out by You-Know-Who and Quirrell. He said, and I quote, 'If she dies on me, I will trample on her grave for the rest of my life and use the cup the Slytherins won as her headstone to taint her memory with the great loss we incurred just because she couldn't contain her urge to be a fucking hero.'" said George, laughing.

Leila shook her head. "Wow. It's going to be bizarre having someone a bit more sane running the show. He was mental. He actually worked out how to by-pass the stairway to the girls' dorm just so he can kick Alicia, Katie, Angelina and me out of bed for the 5 am practices."

"That speaks volumes about his commitment. We've actually put concentrated effort to work our way around that girls' dorm staircase and we've never cracked it."

"I did!" interjected Sirius, with a broad grin. "I wanted to er… see if I could catch Marlene McKinnon unawares."

"No way! Did you?" demanded Fred eagerly.

"Yep. But the girls caught me and …" Sirius winced. "The staircase was the least of my worries. They hexed me so bad, I was grateful for the stairway to slide me back into the Common Room. No way I could've gotten up and found my way on my own after that."

"We'll take the risk!" the twins chorused.

Leila decided she better interject for the sake of the rest of the Gryffindor girls. "If you tell them how to do it Sirius, I will personally ensure I give them a damn good show and you'll have only yourself to blame." she said, hiding a smile at the horrified expression on Sirius' face.

"Low blow, Lil' Lu. Low blow." grumbled George.

"This is so unfair…" gasped Ron, on reaching where they stood. "We should've made Bill, Charlie and Percy come with us instead of Apparating later, in the interest of group suffering.

"We're there, Ron." Arthur assured him.

Leila's eyes zeroed in on two solitary silhouettes making their way towards him, one of whom she instantly recognized. Curly blond hair gently moving with the breeze and a smile so bright, she could see his dimples from this distance. He caught her gaze and his smile turned broader.

"Leila! I didn't know you were coming too!" Cedric said, as he eagerly made his way to her.

Leila tried to restructure the mush her brain had become at the sight of him and come up with a witty response but all she could say was, "_Heyyy…_"

'_Kill me now…'_

Amos Diggory came up behind his son and looked at her keenly. "Leila Potter? Pleasure to finally meet you." He shook her hand and smiled warmly. "Cedric has told me a lot about you. Apparently, you're quite the Quidditch player? Of course, he did beat you…"

"Dad!" hissed Cedric, looking mortified.

"Mr Diggory." she said, looking up at the man with Cedric's smile. "Coming from Cedric, that's a hell of a compliment. I'm sure he'll best me this year too and I couldn't pick a better opponent!"

Mr Diggory's smile grew warmer at her praise and he looked at her appraisingly. Behind his back, Fred, George and Ron were pretending to gag.

'_Well, alright, that was laying it on a bit thick, but brownie points for me from the father of my dream boy, so vomit away boys... See if I care!'_

Amos Diggory's smile vanished when he saw the man standing over Leila's shoulder, wearing a look of absolute irritation on his face.

"Sirius Black." he said, slowly. "I didn't think you would be out in public so soon?"

Leila's good mood vanished instantly. Eyes hardening, she looked at Mr Diggory and said coolly, "I think losing twelve years of your life is bad enough and a lot to make up for. Why sit indoors and wait till everybody deems it'okay for you show up and live your life, eh Mr Diggory?"

Amos looked at her uncomfortably. "O-Of course. Certainly, certainly..."

Cedric saved the moment by smiling warmly at Sirius and holding out his hand. "Sir, it's pleasure to meet the man who did the impossible. I'm Cedric Diggory..."

Sirius felt a stab of annoyance. He had been festering about this boy ever since he found out Leila fancied him, deciding already that he despised him. But here he was, being pretty damn decent and it only made Sirius want to hit him even more. '_Why couldn't you be an arsehole?_'_  
_

"Hullo Cedric." he said grudgingly taking the boy's hand, gripping it harder than necessary.

Arthur smiled slightly and held up an old can. "Found the portkey. Shall we?"

All them touched it with their index finger. Cedric slid in next to Leila, his finger lightly making contact with hers, making her blush and Sirius grit his teeth.

"Three... Two... One..." murmured Arthur and the group vanished.

The excitement in the air was palpable around the camp manager's office, filling Sirius with energy. He felt someone's eyes on him and he caught Leila smiling at him. He was pleased to see that she didn't seem to be paying attention to Cedric, who was talking to Hermione but kept glancing at the dark haired beauty who had her eyes on Sirius.

"What?" asked Sirius, smiling back.

"You look so happy..." she softly, reaching up and doing up the third button of his muggle shirt, which he had missed. "You look like the Sirius in my parents' wedding photo."

Sirius grinned down at her. "James and I used to go for the Quidditch League games. His dad would get us tickets. But the World Cup is always something else entirely... We missed the last world cup, the one before.. everything, because war had broken out and it wasn't safe to host public events anywhere in Europe. The German Magic Ministry had tightened security and no one wanted to travel anyway. It was the gloomiest World Cup of this century, I'd wager. And England got smashed by Italy in the finals, so best not to talk about it. Merlin, I love being here... James would be so jealous if he knew."

Leila chuckled and slipped her hand into his. "Well, we have some camping to do before that. What do you know about pitching tents?"

"Absolutely nothing. I never went camping. The one time we attempted it, my brother Regulus and I got lost in the forest and started fighting. Our house elf showed up and apparated my brother back home and left me to fend for myself. I found myself in Nottingham after a couple of hours, got drunk, made out with a married bartender and passed out in a pub bathroom. I somehow managed to owl James the next day and he showed up in the afternoon. We drank some more to help kill my hangover and well... it was the same thing again but I had company this time. I don't think Mrs Potter was very pleased when we showed up at Godric's Hollow later in the night, plastered."

Leila shook her in disbelief. "Poor, poor Moony, putting up with you two for so many years."

"_Poor Moony_? Oh please! The quiet ones are always the worst. When we get home, I'll tell you what all your beloved Moony got up to and got away with because of that angel face he has. _Poor Moony_ indeed!"

During Sirius and Leila's conversation, Mr Weasley managed to sort out the campsite details with Mr Rogers, the muggle manager as did Mr Diggory. They parted ways, Cedric and Leila exchanging lingering looks.

The afternoon passed idyllically, with Leila and Hermione quickly taking over the barbecue to humour Mr Wealsey's insistence that they don't use magic. Mr Weasley had a running commentary going on all the wizards and witches who passed by them for Sirius' benefit, occasionally calling out to a few of them who came over to say hello to him and often greeting Sirius too, albeit if a bit tentatively.

Percy, Charlie and Bill joined them later and the elder Weasley boys seemed really taken in by both Leila and Sirius, already intrigued by the stories they had already heard from their siblings. Charlie occupied himself with Sirius, giving him a full run down of the state of the Quidditch League teams and their fortunes over the last decade while Bill hung around Leila, trying to learn how to use match sticks and unless Leila was mistaken, attempting to flirt with her.

Ludo Bagman made his appearance, allowing them to thank him for the spectacular tickets. He was wearing his Wasps gear, looking far too carefree for a man supposedly running the show. However, Leila's contentment took a deep dive when Barty Crouch came by to say hello to Percy and Arthur.

Ludo had turned to him brightly and said, "Look Barty, old boy, Leila Potter and Sirius Black are here! Splendid, isn't it? I was just telling Sirius that he's in for quite a match because the Bulgarians have upped their game from what he has seen of them, a decade ago."

Contrary to Ludo Bagman's warm attitude towards Sirius, Crouch's face turned grey and he stared at Sirius, his face twisting in a grimace. Sirius' eyes narrowed into slits and he looked up at Crouch and drawled, "You're awfully silent, Barty. Where's the love? Don't tell me you haven't missed me all these years..."

Barty looked away, disgust written all over his face, turning to look at Leila instead, his face morphing to curiosity. Arthur looked at Sirius worriedly and turned to Ludo and said brightly, in a clear attempt to diffuse the tension, "Everything going well, Ludo? Looks like you've pulled it off!"

Ludo smiled brightly. "Now, now Arthur. Don't jinx it! It's just about in control. We've been a bit short staffed with Bertha going AWOL..."

Arthur and Barty both frowned. "Don't you think it's about time you sent someone to look for her?" asked Arthur, carefully.

"Bertha Jorkins?" asked Sirius slowly. "I remember her from back in school. Bit of an airhead, wasn't she?"

"Precisely! She still is!" exclaimed Ludo. "She's probably lost, in Austria instead of Albania. Besides... Blimey, Leila! Are you alright?"

The blood had drained from Leila's face completely. She remembered Voldemort's words from her dream

"_Bertha Jorkins had to be disposed of, Wormtail. She served her purpose and had no further use."_

"Leila?" Bill nudged her when she didn't respond to Ludo. She broke out of her trance and gave him a tight smile and shook her head. She looked at Ludo and said quietly, "Or maybe she's in trouble..."

Ludo laughed and said, "I doubt it. Well I best be off. See you folks at the Top Box!"

As he sauntered off, dragging Crouch with him, Leila fought the urge to get up and run after him and hit around the head. She knew, without a doubt, that Bertha Jorkins was dead.

Sirius was staring at her, his gray eyes pleading with her to come over to him and tell him what was wrong.

'_Dumbledore... I need to write him another letter as soon as we get back tomorrow. I musn't alarm anyone, including Sirius. Maybe, just maybe, this is all a coincidence.'_

As the evening drew nearer, they all made their way to the match. Ron and Leila were making a desperate attempt to give Hermione a last minute education on different moves and special circumstance rules. As they settled into their seats at the Top Box, Leila groaned as she saw two familiar blondes walking towards their aisle, accompanied by Cornelius Fudge and another blonde woman.

"You've got to be kidding me. Fucking hell!" swore Ron, looking pissed as the Malfoys drew nearer.

Draco's eyes widened at the sight of them before slipping back into his characteristic sneer and walking quickly towards them, putting some space between him and Fudge to be able to throw in some barbs without being overhead by the Minister. "Potter, Weasley, Granger... Fancy seeing you here. What'd you do, Potter? Whore yourself to pay for these seats for your friends?"

Leila rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I probably had to fuck the same men your dad bribed with blood money to get you the tickets. That's trickle down economics for you. Oh I'm sorry, did I say something too complicated for the poor little rich boy to wrap his head around?"

Draco sneered. "Oh gee, Potter. You could've just come to me directly. I have some spare change and a free afternoon."

Ron furiously stood up, clenching his fist, but Leila grabbed the back of his jacket and smiled at Malfoy. "Why doesn't it surprise me you'd have to _pay_ for company? With your charming personality, even hookers are going to be compelled to exercise their right to pick their clients, Malfoy. No can do."

Draco opened his mouth to retort but stopped dead on catching sight of the man sitting on the other side of Leila, his wand out, knuckles white and looking like Death himself.

"Finish what you were about to say to her, I dare you." Sirius said softly, fury radiating off him, his ears still ringing with the exchange between Leila and Draco.

Leila yanked Ron back his seat on the other side of her. She could handle only one angry person at a time. Thankfully, Fudge drew closer, smiling broadly at Leila, wavering a bit at spotting Sirius. Sirius on the other hand, was looking at the woman next to Lucius Malfoy with disgust, a look she returned openly.

Fudge jovially greeted Leila and made some small talk before moving two aisles above, Lucius and Draco Malfoy following him. The woman was the last to follow, but was stopped by Sirius who put his hand out and caught her arm.

"Thirteen years and you can't say hello, Cissa? No visits, no cards... Tsk Tsk..." his tone was mocking and Leila realized he was trying to wind up the woman. She glared at him, her gray eyes hardening like flint.

She had the same eyes as Sirius. '_No way...'_

Sirius leaned a little closer. "Tell my nephew if I ever catch him talking to Leila like that again, it will be the last thing he ever does."

Cissa leaned closer to him and smirked. "It's hardly been three months since you've gotten out of prison and you're issuing death threats to my son? If I were you Sirius, I'd be a little careful. The Dementors are already floored by your charms and I'm sure this time, they'd go straight for a..." she paused, then leaned and softly kissed his cheek.

Sirius sneered and pulled away. "Best be off, Cissa. I'm sure your husband wouldn't like you publicly demonstrating your emotional attachment to the members of your family who aren't dead or still behind bars."

She sneered back at him and swept off.

Leila looked at Sirius with great interest. "You're related to the Malfoys?"

Sirius gave her a sidelong look. "Narcissa Malfo,y formerly Narcissa Black, is my cousin. I did tell you what my family is like. She always hated me and our relationship hit rock bottom when I helped her sister Andromeda elope with Teddy Tonks, a muggleborn. Colossal bitch. I'd forgotten how much I hated her."

Ron whispered to Leila, "Does that make you and Malfoy sort-of-family? I'm predicting awkward Christmas dinners if that's the case."

The match turned out to be spectacular and Leila found herself rooting for Bulgaria because as a fellow seeker, it was impossible to not be awed by Victor Krum. But with Ron and Sirius on either side of her, manically supporting the Irish team, she decided she better not voice out her love for Krum.

As the walked back to the tent, Leila found that Charlie agreed with her and both of them excitedly reviewed his Wronski Feint in excruciating detail till Fred and Ron begged them both to shut up.

Leila couldn't sleep a wink that night, as Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins' soft, steady breathing hummed around their tent. The excitement of the match dispelling, her mind was obsessing over Bertha Jorkins. She wondered if Dumbledore got the letter she had sent him the previous day and wishing she had made it sound a bit more urgent. She wondered what Moony was doing and if he got his job at the library. He might have had better luck this time because his year long stint as a teacher at Hogwarts added more weight to his otherwise patchy CV.

She restlessly tossed about in her bed and frowned as noises from outside reached her ears. It sounded like a lot of footsteps and whispers. She strained to hear better and a scream pierced the air. She bolted upright.

'_What in the world?' _

Bill rushed into the tent, looking stressed.

"Everyone, get up! Quickly!"

Leila was already out of bed and Bill caught her around the waist and swung her down to the ground from her top bunk before turning to usher Ginny and Ron out.

"Wha..? Whaz goin' on?" mumbled Fred, blinking sleepily.

"Let's go, now."

All of them stumbled out of the tent and stopped short in horror at the sight that met their eyes. A group of cloaked men were marching, chanting something that Leila couldn't discern. Levitated above them was the muggle family of Mr Rogers', the camp manager. Clearly, they were being tortured and toyed with by the group below.

Leila let out a strangled cry and started to run towards them, her brain blocking out everything barring the instinct to get to them and help. The sight of the small children sobbing as the hung upside down made her stomach clench painfully.

"Leila, NO!" roared a voice in her ear, a strong arm pulling her back. She looked up in horror at Sirius. "We have to help!" she cried.

Sirius pushed her towards Ron and Fred and said urgently, "We will. Go. GO NOW! All of you. Go into the woods and wait for the all clear! NOW!"

Ron, Ginny and the twins grabbed her and Hermione and dragged them away into the darkened forest. Judging from the terrified expression on their faces, the younger Weasleys they had a far better understanding of the danger they were all in. In the melee that followed, they were soon separated, leaving Ron, Hermione and Leila to stumble deeper in, with Leila fumbling in her pockets, looking for a wand she hadn't yet realized was missing.

Sirius' Auror instincts kicked in and he nodded at Bill and Charlie, holding out his wand as the three of them pushed past the hysterical crowd going the opposite direction, closely followed by Arthur and Percy. Helena Dezman, Clarence Nightwood and a few more Ministry officials that Sirius recognized, filed on either side of him, as they followed his lead. Barty Crouch and him exchanged a quick look, and Sirius understood what his former boss was indicating. He nodded in affirmation and they split the group quietly to surround the Death Eaters, forming a 'V' pattern, attempting to box them in. And curses began to fly.

Sirius whirled, slashing, hexes flying from his mouth with practiced ease. It was like the thirteen years never happened and it was another one of those terrible nights, where James, Frank Longbottom, Moody and him were going headlong at a group of Death Eaters.

Soon, the Death Eaters were cornered and they had taken to jeering at the Ministry officials. Sirius could smell the stench of alcohol and he realized that their inebriation would work to their advantage as they wouldn't realize it was time to flee. He advanced closer. '_Almost there...'_

And the screaming began. The crowd around them erupted as did the group of Death Eaters, their hooded gazes swiveling to the sky. Sirius looked up and his heart stopped. The Dark Mark glittered above the forest, where Leila had gone into. The Death Eaters apparated but Sirius hardly noticed. Next to him, Arthur let out a strangled cry.

"The kids! They're in there!"

All of them apparated and their eyes fell on a huddle of shadows. Instantly, all of them pointed their wands and roared in unison, "Stupefy!"

One of the group shoved them down to the ground, under the line of fire. Her hair flew wildly around her, the red light from the curse briefly highlighting her face and the two people she was shielding under her.

"Stop!" roared Arthur. "That's my son!"

The night stilled again and Sirius rushed to them, grabbing Leila and pulling her to his chest, using his other arm to help Ron and Hermione up.

Hermione was shaking as she huddled closer to Sirius. "There..." she gestured into a thicket behind them. "We heard a voice there and then ..."

She was cut off abruptly by Barty Crouch, who advanced on them, his eyes holding an insane gleam.

"Who did it|? Which one of you did it? ANSWER ME NOW!" he roared, pointing his wand at them.

Sirius pulled all three of them closer to him and angled his body to shield them from Crouch. Arthur stepped between them and said quietly, "Barty, calm down."

"Out of my way, Arthur!"

Helena spoke up softly, as the others looked at one another uncomfortably or stared at Crouch in shock. "Barty, they're just children. Stop it."

Barty howled in rage at her. "It doesn't matter! They did it! They did it!"

"That's enough." The deadly undercurrent in Sirius' voice made Leila cringe.

"You.. You did it! You .." hissed Barty, his eyes widening at Sirius.

"He was right by our side the entire time, fighting the Death Eaters in the camp sight!" snapped Arthur while the other ministry members looked at Crouch in exasperation.

Leila pulled away from Sirius and marched up to Crouch. She glowered at him and said, "If you're done screaming at everyone in sight, we were here, trying to get away. We heard a noise there by that clump of trees. We tried calling out, when the person there said some sort of incantation and that.. _thing_ appeared in the sky. We didn't even know what the hell was going on till all of you showed up and tried to fry us with your stunners."

Coruch leered at her and stepped closer, his wand at her throat. "How convenient, you just happened to be here?"

Amos Diggory stepped up and grabbed Crouch's wrist. "For heaven's sake, Barty! You're talking to Leila Potter! Stop this madness and point your wand away from these children!" He turned and said gently to Leila, "Will you come with me and show me where you heard the incantation?"

Leila nodded and led the way, Amos behind her. As they approached the ticket, he stopped her and gestured for her to stay back.

"Amos, don't go alone!" called Clarence. Sirius nodded in agreement and they both followed him into the darkness.

"Blimey! Someone's here!" Amos called. "But.. oh..."

Leila, Hermione and Ron exchanged looks.

Amos Diggory came out, holding what looked like a bundle in his arms. Sirius and Clarence came up behind him, both of them staring at Crouch with stunned expressions. Amos laid the bundle down and Leila gasped. It was Winky, Barty Crouch's house elf.

The next morning was stilted. As they quietly packed up and made their way to the portkey location, the atmosphere was a contrast to the previous day. Hermione was still furious at Winky's treatment and Percy was equally furious at her for insinuating that Crouch was a being an unreasonable dick. Bill, Charlie, Arthur and Sirius were exhausted as they had spent the night helping clear the mess up and get people to safety. Ron and Leila had huddled together and he had quietly spent the night softly explaining who the Death Eaters were and what the significance of the Dark Mark was. Even Fred and George were unusually subdued.

Sirius and Leila got a separate Portkey to their apartment, not wanting to make Remus worry, especially since the Daily Prophet was bound to have reported what had happened. Leila's eyes widened at the sight in front of her.

Remus was seated at the kitchen table, his hair in complete disarray, looking like he hadn't slept a wink. He rushed to them and grabbed both of them in a hug. "You're alright..."

"In a manner of speaking." said Sirius, grimly. Leila, however, addressed the other person seated across from where Remus had sat.

"'Morning Professor. You got my letter, didn't you?"

Dumbledore gave a small smile and nodded. He glanced up at Sirius. "The word is you were quite the hero last night."

Sirius sighed and dropped himself into a en empty chair. "If you say so. But I'm not sure we have the culprit."

"Who set off the Dark Mark?" asked Remus.

"Bart Crouch's elf was found with my wand. They tested it and it was definitely my wand that was used, though I'm positive Winky didn't do it. The voice we heard was human and male."

"What? _Your _wand?"

Dumbledore looked at her in concern. "Are you alright?"

Leila grimaced as she eyed her wand. "I'm feeling a bit violated, truth be told. I can't even remember when I misplaced it so I don't even know how the said person or Winky got hold of it."

Dumbledore sighed. "Between your dream and this... I have a bad feeling."

Leila sat herself across from him. "I went to local Islington borough library and asked the librarian to get me copies of the local newspapers dated that day, from Lancashire as well Liverpool and Manchester. The man, Frank, had an accent that seemed distinctly north western. She said it'd take a few days."

Dumbledore looked impressive. "That's very resourceful of you, Leila. But I'm afraid I've beated your librarian to it." he held out a paper clipping that had a story of an old gardener and war veteran, who had been found dead in an old dilapidated house. The coroner's office couldn't explain his death. Leila stared at the grainy picture with a sinking heart.

"It's him. He was the one Voldemort murdered in my dreams."

Sirius and Remus exchanged a long look. Sirius had told Remus about her dream and now both of them were thinking the exact same thing.

"Wormtail... He's helping him, isn't he?" asked Remus, gripping the back of Leila's chair.

Leila sighed, then suddenly straightened up, remembering something.

"Professor," she said slowly. "Ludo Bagman said Bertha Jorkins is missing. I couldn't tell him this but.. She's d-dead. Voldemort mentioned her name and told Wormtail that she had to be disposed of, that she'd told them everything she needed to."

"What?" asked Sirius in shock. "Why didn't you tell me this yesterday?"

Leila looked at him apologetically. "I wasn't sure till now that the dream was even real..." She turned to Dumbledore, who was looking at her with a very troubled expression. "Bagman said she was in Albania when she disappeared. Isn't that where Voldemort was last seen?"

"And so it begins." said Dumbledore softly.

"What do we do?" demanded Sirius.

"Nothing, for now. We don't know where he is anymore or what his plans are. We wait and watch. I thought the World CUp might have been his target but it doesn't look like it."

"He sent his Death Eaters to the World Cup!"

"I don't think so... I think, that may have just been in a coincidence. Even they must've had a nasty shock at the sight of the Dark Mark..."

Remus looked at Leila thoughtfully. "What about your other dreams, Leila?"

Dumbledore looked at her curiously. "They've been others?"

Leila flushed and shook her head. "I don't think those are real..."

Dumbledore frowned and leaned forward. "What are they about? Is this something that happens regularly?"

Leila sighed and nodded. "Almost every night, since I killed Quirrell. Voldemort is always there and he's goading me, killing people and he keeps saying I am him and he's me... But... I'm not, am I?" her voice had trailed off towards the end, as she looked at Dumbledore despairingly.

Dumbledore looked stunned. "Leila, why didn't you ever tell me about this? Or Sirius and Remus?"

"Not big on talking, this one." said Sirius bitterly, tasting bile. He couldn't believe she had endured this for every night for over two years and never said a word. The sight of her fragile form and the fatigue lining her eyes made him even more angry.

Dumbledore looked troubled. "These dreams, do they have clues or do the show you what he's doing?"

"No." she said quietly. "It's usually in a house. I don't know where it is but it's familiar. And..." he glanced at Remus and Sirius uncomfortably. "My parents are there, with Sirius and Remus. They look different. Not younger, but.. different. And they always seem to get a shock when they notice my presence, like I'm not supposed to be there. Especially Dad. He keeps apologizing. Then Voldemort kills them all and I can't stop him... But the blood...their blood... it's always on my hands."

Dumbledore jumped up at her words. Remus tightened his grip on her shoulder and Sirius whipped his head around to stare at her.

"YOU didn't kill them!" said Dumbledore, looking agitated. "Leila, listen to me. Whatever Tom tells you in your dreams, whether it's real or not, you are not responsible for this!"

"How could you even think that?" asked Sirius in disbelief.

"How could I not?" she said softly.

The sky had gone dark outside and lightning flashed across the room. They started and looked out of the window. Another flash illuminated the room and that's when the four of them noticed it.

The lightening had a strange, ethereal quality to it. It streaked across the sky, ripping through the grey clouds, encompassing almost the entire horizon. Sirius, Remus and Leila looked on, transfixed, as the storm raged on.

Dumbledore had gone pale. '_He wouldn't have, would he? Not even Tom Riddle would be _that_ arrogant...'_

But it made sense, especially after hearing about Leila's dream. Dumbledore suddenly felt very old and tired. The wrath of the old gods was going to pour down at them at a day in the near future and they were all going to pay for Riddle's paranoid, stupidity.

As the sky flashed ominously, deep down in the Ministry's department of Mysteries, a veil fluttered even though there was no wind.

One either reality, if you stood close to it, you could hear voices growing louder, as the curtain began its slow disintegration. In a few months, it could leave the archway open and the universe would right itself, bringing with it new and dangerous possibilities.


	8. Chapter 8

"Why _this_ year? Why why why?" moaned George as they climbed the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. "It's just not fair! We turn seventeen in just a few months!"

"It's supposed to be dangerous! Someone _died_ last time!" said Hermione.

The twins looked at her like she was crazy. "Hermione, we're taking about the Triwizard Tournament. _The_ Triwizard Tournament! I'd risk death by drowning in Bertie Bott's vomit flavoured beans to take part!"

"Personally, I'm looking forward to watching other people risk their necks while I get to watch in the audience." Leila said, cheerfully.

Ron bumped her shoulder playfully. "I dunno, I'd love to be part of it!"

Leila snorted and told him he was most welcome to try as long as she didn't have to back him up.

Neville said, rather wistfully. "You may have had a lifetime of adventure, Leila. The rest of us wouldn't mind a go at trying to be superheroes."

'_Idiots.'_thought Leila affectionately. She traded a look with Hermione, who also smiled back at her and rolled her eyes as if to say, _'__They don't know what it takes to live like that, do they?'_

Weeks later, as Leila stared in shock when Dumbledore read out her name from the parchment thrown up by the goblet, it seemed like only Hermione remembered that Leila had wanted nothing to do with it. Hero of the Gryffindor Tower or attention seeking brat according to the rest of the school (and to Leila's dismay, Ron), Hermione was the only one who truly understood Leila's exhaustion at being dragged into yet another mess.

Leila slumped against the wall as she left the room and entered the now empty Great Hall. The verdict had been clear. Whether or not she had put her name in, she had to participate. Dumbledore, McGonagall and, much to Leila's numb surprise, Snape were the only ones who seemed to be trying to fight the circumstance out of concern for her. Everybody else just seemed either angry or procedural.

She felt someone lean against the wall next to her. She looked up tiredly to see Cedric looking at her intently.

He smiled sadly at her. "Why would you do it, Leila? It's supposed to be perilous even for a fully qualified wizard. You're barely fourteen. Do you realize how dangerous this is?"

She stared at him in shock "Do you seriously think I put my name in the goblet?"

Cedric raised his eyebrows. "Well, everybody has been giving it a go..."

"And the resultant beards they've grown after crossing the Age Line should tell you how successful they've been at it." she snapped at him.

"Yes but it's _you_. You're special. You always get away with everything

Normally, Leila would've melted at hearing Cedric call her special. Tonight, it dawned on her that this was a probably more pleasant preview of what everybody else thought. Feeling sick, she looked up at the boy who made her heart skip a beat every time she laid eyes on him, she said quietly, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Cedric raised his eyebrows. "Well, it would be just like you to throw yourself into a situation… What with your long suffering hero complex and all."

'_He did not just say that… Tell me he didn't just say that… The pretty faced bastard!'_

_"_I have no interest in actively looking for trouble when it seems to find me in abundance." she said flatly, her heart tightening. She hadn't realized how much she adored Cedric till the deep hurt from his words lodged into her chest tightly.

She pushed herself off the wall and walked away. Cedric called out behind her, "For what it's worth Leila, I'm not angry. I'm just worried you'll be hurt. I'm still your biggest fan."

She glanced over her shoulder and said quietly, "I don't want a cheerleader. I can't believe you'd even think I would do something _that_ stupid. But then again, you don't even _know_ me. So I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised you'd think I would stoop that low."

She walked away, leaving a rather wounded looking Cedric behind.

Leila had no idea that she could feel worse, not aware that waiting in the common room was Ron Weasley armed with equally hurtful words, waiting to break what was left of her heart.

She woke up late the next morning, feeling empty. She found Hermione sitting by the foot of her bed, holding an apple and a buttered toast, wearing a small, sad smile.

Leila looked at her wearily. After her run-in with Ron, she had no idea what to expect from her other best friend. Hermione seemed to sense that. She put the placed the toast on her bedside table and climbed into bed with her and hugged her tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Leila. I don't know why these things keep happening to you. Are they really making you take part in the Tournament? They really, really can't do that! They can't!"

Leila felt a rush of gratitude and her eyes filled with tears. She huddled further into her best friend's arms and cried for the next hour, while Hermione stayed silent, holding her, utterly terrified at the sight of the strongest person she knew having a complete breakdown.

She finally coaxed Leila to eat and got her to shower and come out by the lake for a walk. They both strolled, Leila's eyes still red. Hermione hesitantly said, "He'll come around."

Leila clenched her jaw and looked away. Hermione took a deep breath. "Leila, you have to understand what it's like for him. I'm not justifying it at all; he's being a complete and utter moron. But he's always the overshadowed one in the family and he feels like his only role in our trio is that of your sidekick."

Leila looked at her in disbelief. "You're joking, right? He's the brother I never had. I thought we were a team. When did this inferiority complex develop?"

"It's always been there. He just can't think clearly now. He'll come around. He can't stay a day without talking to you. All our fights have always involved me. You two never fight. Just give it a bit of time."

But Leila was too angry to be forgiving of Ron. "My parents died because of me and I'm famous for something I don't even remember. I grew up in a..." she broke off angrily. Taking a deep breath, she said, "If Ron can't see how lucky he is, how I'd give anything to be him and how much I love him and look up to him, he's a fucking fool and he can go to hell for all I care."

Hermione looked at her anxiously. She had expected Ron to be a prat about this but she hadn't anticipated Leila's persistent anger, seeing as it was not in her nature to hold onto negativity, especially when it came to people she cared about.

_*****Alternate Reality*****_

Dumbledore looked at the small group assembled in front of him, feeling unusually nervous. There was really no right way to break the news to them. However he said it, they were going to react strongly.

He seated himself in his desk and looked at everyone assembled in his private chamber on the other side of his office. He didn't want anybody else, including the portraits in his office to overhear this.

He looked at each face, his heart beating a little faster as he thought of how this was going to affect them. Lily and James Potter were right in front of him, flanked on either side by Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. To their left were Frank and Alice Longbottom, with Alastor Moody and Minerva McGonagall behind them. Behind the Potters, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Sturgis Podmore and Nymphadora Tonks were seated on the large sofa.

Standing by the window sill, was the youngest order member, Cedric Diggory. The scar that twisted across the left side of his face, made him look sinister, a complete contrast to gentle, affable boy who carried it. Dumbledore hadn't seen any light in his eyes since that fateful day he went home the summer after his 6th year to find Amos and Cecilia Diggory butchered, the Dark Mark hovering above their house.

Next to him, stood Gideon Prewett, still looking incomplete without Fabian even after all these years; Fabian had died trying to protect their sister Molly and her family. Dumbledore still woke up some nights to the image of the Burrow drenched in blood. Molly and Arthur had been strung up in the ceiling, their six young sons lying in a pool of their own blood at their feet, their dead Uncle Fabian sprawled over them, frozen in his last desperate attempt to save them.

The Potters and Longbottoms, still reeling from the recent loss of their own toddlers, broke down completely that night. It was one of the worst massacres they had seen.

Dumbledore took a deep breath and looked around at them.

"What I'm about to tell you is rather loaded. I know you think after two decades of continuous war, we've all seen too much to be really affected by anything anymore. But…" he trailed off.

He looked around at the room and smiled sadly. "There was a time when the entire Order could never have fit into this chamber. Hagrid alone would've taken up all the space. But, he's gone and…" He sighed deeply. "Yet, here we are. This is all that's left. We're the last ones standing and our only comfort is that we've taken down as many Death Eaters as we can despite a paralyzed Ministry."

The Order stayed silent. This wasn't the first speech laden with sadness or pessimism they had received over the years and it wouldn't be the last.

Dumbledore tiredly rubbed his eyes and put his glasses back on.

"Some of you came to me months ago, describing vivid dreams you couldn't understand. Gideon, you saw The Burrow, with your nephews running about, laughing and jesting with one another. Frank, Alice, you saw a young boy, looking much like you. And James, Lily, Sirius and Remus dreamt of a young girl, always in the context of violence. And Cedric, you saw yourself, whole and with your parents."

Everybody shifted, edgy at the mention of their bizarre, melancholy dreams.

"All of you suspected that it was something that the Death Eaters had planted, a curse, to make you hallucinate while you slept. I'm afraid it's something else entirely."

"Over two years ago, I started having dreams of my own. There was Voldemort, always in the shadows, watching. And there was a girl - Young and innocent, and for some reason, Voldemort watched her. The dreams troubled me. I knew they weren't ordinary. I researched them and ensured it wasn't something that was being fed to my mind from an external source. I then ascertained that the dreams contained a message, an element of truth. It became imperative I find out who that child was. Soon, it became clear, the young girl was none other than Leila Potter."

James clenched his jaw. "This is a new low for him, feeding us nightmares of our children after killing them." he spat.

"James," Albus said gently, "He's not doing this. Before I tell you what is going on, I need to explain something to you. There are many types of magic. The kind we humans practice is only one. It is, in effect, energy that we harness from the universe that lets us do what we do. The difference between us and muggles is that our body is able to channel this specific bandwidth of energy, further concentrating it in our wands, allowing us to focus it."

He took a deep breath and continued. "The greatest mistake the wizarding world makes is assuming that this power is of the highest order. There are Magiks we cannot comprehend, some of which require a different channel, some that can even be harnessed by muggles. There is another bandwidth of energy, similar to dark magic, which finds its source deep within the core of the Earth. In the olden times, when magic was no secret and gods walked among men, this magic was used by darker forces to wreak havoc. It has since then been buried away, generation after generation of the Light forces hiding it out of sight. But every now and then, someone finds a way to harness it and the chaos that ensues is otherworldly."

"You mean a dark wizard?" asked Kingsley.

Albus shook his head. "It isn't always a wizard who does it. Over the course of time, some muggles found a way to use it too. Some of the most ruthless muggle dynasties were founded by men who had access to elements of this power - Genghis Khan, Nero… Even Hitler is known to have dabbled in some occult and it wouldn't surprise me if it only worsened his megalomania."

The purebloods in the room looked at each other baffled, wondering who he was talking about but Lily and Sturgis looked intrigued.

"Unfortunately, Lord Voldemort can be added to the list. After having toyed with dark magic for so long, he would've considered this just another challenge. The arrogant monster pays no heed to consequences of a larger, existential scale. Everything is a means to an end and men like him can't appreciate the kind of damage they wreck on the rhythm of the universe when they touch magic sources such as this. Judging from what he's done, I'm not sure he even fully knows what he's done."

"Albus, you're scaring us." said Alice quietly.

Dumbledore looked at her sadly. "The prophecy affected him a lot more than we guessed." Everyone flinched. Leila Potter and Neville Longbottom were forbidden names and nobody spoke of them in over a decade. The pain was too much to bear.

"From what I've learnt, Voldemort harnessed this magic and performed an ancient curse – Gaea Diatromi is what the Greeks called it. The magic surrounds the world and divides it into two, the energy multiplying in order to recreate the missing halves in either universe."

The long silence that greeted his statement was largely bafflement. "I'm sorry, Professor. Could you try that in English again?" asked Cedric, looking confused.

Albus took a deep breath. "Before setting out to the Potters on the Halloween of 1981, Voldemort wanted to make sure he would not fail. So intense was his paranoia about the child who was chosen to destroy him, he cursed the world and divided it into two alternate realities. This way, he would be the victor either way, for he would rule one reality even if he failed in the other. The two realities would diverge based on his connection with the Chosen one."

"I don't understand." said Sirius, flatly. "He didn't know who it would be. It could've been Leila or Neville. He killed them _both_…" He stopped, shutting his eyes tight. He could still see them, both children murdered a day apart. Still, their eyes wide open. Little Leila's face had been frozen in a mask of curiosity, Neville's face was tear stained. Their bodies were laid out in their cots like they were asleep, but frozen cold in death. Sirius unconsciously reached for Lily and Alice's hand, both seated on either side of him. They held each other's fingers tight, their shared grief ravaging their insides.

Albus surveyed them and said quietly, "He knew it was Leila. He knew the minute he heard the prophesy. He…" he gave Frank and Alice a misery laden look. "He killed Neville to tie up loose ends, just in case. But he knew it was Leila."

Frank smiled bitterly. "So, my son was killed as a safety measure eh? Good to know, Albus."

Every bone in Albus' body seemed to feel his age. How he despised being the one to tell them this….

"How could he have been so sure?" asked Minerva.

"She's half blood. Like him. I know how Voldemort's mind works. He would've seen himself in her, even before he truly saw her. And from what I gather from the dreams we've all been having, he was right. It is Leila. He's obsessing over her in the dreams. She lives, probably at his expense."

The pin drop silence was suffocating. A chair scraped back loudly and Lily stood up, tears in her eyes. "That's enough, Albus. I've heard enough. How could you? How could you even talk about her? Do you even know what you're saying?"

Albus knew this wouldn't go well but he still flinched at the look in all their eyes as they processed his words. The unlikely combination of anger and hope in their eyes was overwhelming.

"Lily, please. I would not be telling you this unless I'm sure. I've been following this theory ever since I first dreamt of Leila all those years ago. I'm certain that in our sister reality, she fulfilled the prophesy."

"Think about your dreams… She keeps changing in them, doesn't she? She ages as per the timeline here. Lily, I have no doubt that Leila is very much present in the same dreams as yours, her subconscious reaching out across the divide."

"S-She's really there too?" croaked Sirius, looking devastated. "In the dream, she's… she's really there? She's sharing the same dream?"

Albus nodded. He turned to the others. "If Leila stopped him that night, none of the other deaths would've occurred. You're accessing all the consciousness of the people you've lost here but survived in the alternate reality. Neville Longbottom, the Weasleys and Amos and Cecilia Diggory…"

The despair and longing that was creeping in their eyes suddenly filled Albus with hope. What he was about to tell them next would actually constitute as good news, in spite of the hell that was about to descend on them.

"The problem with this divide is that it is unstable. Voldemort based the entire divide on two people – himself and Leila. As long as one of them is dead, the divide would hold. But, I think something is happening in the other reality. I think they both survived and whatever is going on, it's bringing Leila and Voldemort towards a head on collision. The divide is crumbling and the worlds are converging, back to the way it should be."

"Are you saying that the worlds will combine, with the elements of both worlds forming a whole one again?" asked Minerva, looking alarmed.

"The energy is dissipating, rendering the universes incomplete. When they do finally combine, those of us who have survived both universes, will recombine as a single entity. If we have survived in either universe, then we remain as we are in the reformed world. If any of us have survived both, then we would recombine to form a single entity."

"The part that worries me is the muggle world. Their bodies don't have the ability to survive the recombination. One of the worlds will completely dissipate and I strongly suspect it will be ours. Our world has been weakened extensively by the constant onslaught of dark magic by Voldemort's side."

"Dumbledore, this is madness! Recombining worlds, alternate realities... This sounds like an elaborate myth drawn out from the Dark Ages! None of this can be possible! The Death Eaters have to be behind this! They just want to wrong foot us!" snapped Mad Eye, looking exasperated.

"I thought so too, at first." admitted Dumbledore. "I've had three years of desperately searching for answers and now, I have proof that this is happening."

"This is insanity! Does You-Know-Who have any idea what he's doing?" asked Kingsley, looking a bit ill.

"He doesn't. It was a foolish, self gratifying curse to begin with and the irony is that it's only bought him closer to the downfall he wanted to avoid."

"What do you mean?" asked Remus.

"The curse needs two pillars to support it. Voldemort cast it in a way such that he acts as one and little Leila Potter is the other. You see, for the realities to stay separate, each of the pillars have to be on separate realities. He was confident that he would survive either way but this way, he ensured that the magic would alter circumstances to ensure that in one, Leila does not survive. So if Leila did survive in the other universe, she would still act as the pillar and keep the realties apart. However, if she didn't, then both universes recombine and it wouldn't matter to him, because he's won."

"You said the realities are recombining… Does that mean… He's killing her somehow?" asked Sturgis carefully, quickly looked over at Lily and James, who had withdrawn into absolute silence over the last few minutes.

"That's the part where I'm hazy. The recombination is a drastic, quick force and its effects are devastating. But… the process seems slow, gradual even. The only reason that it would be so is if the pillars themselves form a union, if they become one."

"_What?"_

Albus winced. He knew how _wrong _that sounded. "Sirius, it isn't necessarily what you just thought. Again, it's just a theory but I have a feeling I might be right. The prophesy stated that he would mark the child, give her powers. What if he inadvertently transferred some of his essence to her? It would explain why the realities are disintegrating. In a sense, it's recombining. It's been stable all these years because he was probably lying low, vanquished. But now, if he's regaining strength and if Leila's older and her strength is growing too..."

"The pillars are recombining." finished James quietly.

"So, we will see Neville soon?" asked Frank, utterly calm, cutting straight to the heart of the issue.

"Yes."

The commotion that erupted made Albus back away. Everyone was arguing or debating. But around the room, few people stared in silence, trying to digest what they had just been told. The ones who had lost the most - Gideon, Cedric, Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Alice and Frank stared at Dumbledore, their faces still, their eyes stormy. Finally James got up, turned on his heel and slammed his fist into the door. He was torn between burgeoning hope and utter and complete rage at Dumbledore for putting this mad idea out on the table, making him hope for the first time in thirteen years.

"James…" said Remus quietly.

James spun around and stared at them wide eyed. "Don't. Just _don't_. I don't want to hear a damn thing about this. I don't want your fucking theories, Albus. Spare me."

Alice got up and stood by James, her face set in stone. Gideon too looked terribly unimpressed.

"What you're saying… You're saying the Chosen One lives. You're saying everybody we've loved and lost is going to be returned to us. And you're saying our entire reality will cease to exist." said Gideon quietly. "Did you even think this through, Dumbledore? Because no offense, I'm in no mood for a share and care session where we all discuss possibilities available only in dreams."

Cedric finally spoke up. "But… But if he's right? W-We…"

"No!" James roared at him. "Don't do this to yourself! When people die, nothing can bring them back, you hear me?"

"Albus." said Sirius, his voice utterly calm, his eyes clear. "You said you have proof. I think we need to talk about that." Then he slowly added. "But I'll take your word for it anyway. I want to see her. I want to see Leila."

Lily turned to him, her eyes filled with tears. "This time, we'll do it right, won't we?"

"Stop it! Both of you!" shouted James.

Albus stood up, finally shaking off his apprehension. His eyes were set and he looked like his old, assured self. "There is a room in the Department of Mysteries, which houses an ancient archway. Nobody can go through it, an invisible force always pushing back at anyone who tries. But there are a few men who can. It is, in effect, the gateway to the other universe."

"I've been searching for months and I found a group of monks in the Himalayas. They belong to the ancient order of Natraja, a primal form of Shiva, the Hindu God of Destruction. They are traditionally the guardians of the doorway to this energy. Gaea Diatromi, the splitting of realities, has happened only twice in the history of mankind and they hold records of what happens, which is how I'm able predict the outcome."

"A few of these monks can also traverse the archway but almost all of the members of the order were killed by Lord Voldemort when he discovered the source of the power. A handful escaped and they have hidden themselves, out of sight, until I found them a few weeks ago. Upon lengthy discussions with them, one of them agreed to cross over and bring us back tidings of what is happening in the parallel universe because when the worlds combine, we need to be prepared. The Order will be the only one who knows what is going on and we'll be the only ones with the ability to reign in the chaos that will ensue."

He stood by the window and stared at the turbulent sky. The lightening was eerie, flashing across the horizon and made Dumbledore restless. He turned to his now silent order and said, "The monk in question, Bhairava, will come to us in a few days' time. I want you to go home and process what I've told you. It's a lot to take in but we need to understand it. Whether or not you want to believe what I've just told you, this is happening. Be ready by the time he comes."

He smiled grimly as the sky flashed behind him. "A storm is coming and the flood gates are opening. A curse of inconceivable power is being lifted and some of us are being given a second chance personally while the world may have just found its one true weapon against Voldemort again. We have a chance to be ready and do it right this time."

"So let's do this." said Cedric firmly, his blue eyes sparkling with hope.

**A/N:**

**Right then, my dear readers. I know this was a rather long, tedious chapter but we had to get the whole alternate reality theory out of the way so we can move onto the all the drama. **

**Will be more than happy to get feedback- review or PM! Talk to me, people! **


	9. Chapter 9

The stress of having to deal with the entire school either turning on her ('_If one more person waves a 'Potter Stinks' badge at me, I will shove it so far up your arse, Malfoy, you can consider your intestines permanently lost!'_) or following her adoringly ("Can you sign my notebook/bicep/broom, Leila?") or looking at her with concern ('_I'm FINE, Hermione/Hagrid/Professor!_') or ignoring her ('_Ronald 'Shite-brain' Weasley'_) was pushing her to the edge (Or pushing someone else off the literal edge. Pansy Parkinson had been standing temptingly close to the window of the AstronomyTower and for a fleeting second, Leila fantasized shoving her out, along with the gang of Slytherins surrounding her.)

The entire bloody month had felt as long as her entire life. The school instantly polarized into Diggory and Potter camps. Leila never realized how disconcerting it was to have the sweet _Hufflepuffs_ become Slytherin-esque.

'_Fair and cuddly, my arse. They're nastier than an angry Hippogriff when they're pissed.'_

The Hufflepuffs and Slytherins, with the exception of Blaise Zabini, were solidly in CampPrince Charming. Ravenclaw was divided, mostly along gender lines. Leila found out, much to her horror, that she was apparently 'bloody gorgeous' and that was good enough reason for the Ravenclaw boys to cheerfully line up behind her and make it a point to wave and proclaim their undying loyalty every time she passed by. The girls seemed to pick Cedric for pretty much the same reason. And the Gryffindors, of course, were as objective as the Hufflepuffs, which is to say not at all and stood staunchly behind her.

The tension between the two houses rose to unprecedented levels, fights breaking out in corridors until finally, Cedric and Leila had to spend an entire evening in their respective common rooms begging their fellow housemates to be civilized.

All in all, it turned into quite a circus, much to the utter amusement of the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang students.

Leila was far too used to having the entire school hate her seeing as it happened at least once every academic year. But the constant fear of being thrown into something that she wasn't remotely qualified for made her physically ill. On top of everything, she still wasn't talking to either Ron or Sirius.

The morning after Halloween, Remus and Sirius had come thundering to Hogwarts, after having read in the _Daily Prophet_ that she was a champion ("I was just on my way to the owlery to send you the letter!" she exasperatedly as Sirius shouted himself hoarse about how he to find out through the morning news).

Remus was worried sick and tried to have a level headed discussion with Dumbledore but Sirius was pretty much a nightmare, raging and breaking things in Dumbledore's office, declaring that Leila was going home. Finally, she snapped at him and told him off for being a drama queen, at which point he'd towered over her, turning into the Azkaban escapee monster that usually took over when he was furious. He said a few choice nasty things that went along the lines of him wishing she was dead instead of James and Lily and that they shouldn't have wasted their lives on her. ("Et tu, Sirius?" she replied bitterly, utterly demolished)

He had regretted it almost immediately (even more so after Remus punched him in the face, calling him an incorrigible dickhead) and bombarded her with mails, apologizing. She ignored him at which point he physically came back to Hogwarts to plead. She put on her invisibility cloak and hid in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom till McGonagall ordered him to leave ("This is a school, Black! Behave like her guardian and resolve this via mail or wait till she comes home for Christmas!")

He had now taken to sending her two letters a day, asking her to forgive him. Even Moony caved in to his pleas to intervene and wrote to Leila asking her to cut Sirius some slack ("You know he didn't mean it, Leila. We both _know_ how he is when he gets mad… Please say it's okay before he dies of alcohol poisoning or before I murder him.")

But Leila was in no mood to be forgiving and she cold shouldered him like she did Ron.

And now Hagrid had just shown her what was waiting for her in the first task, two days hence.

'_A dragon. A gigantic bloody dragon. Could it be more clichéd? Test the wizards by making them face DRAGONS. What is this? A fucking Disney movie?'_

She wanted to tell Hermione but she couldn't bring herself to. Smart as she was, there was no way either of them would be able to work out how to defeat a dragon in less than 24 hours. And she really didn't want her friend to worry anymore. Hermione had stood by her, tried her best to shield her from the venom and fan following alike and coaxing her to eat and sleep and help her with homework. Leila couldn't bring herself to give her best friend yet another thing to be stressed about. She was tempted to write to Remus but like Hermione, he too seemed far too stressed and was already behaving like a mother hen, writing every single day, checking on her.

'_You're alone on this one, Potter. Man up.'_she thought grimly. '_On the plus side, if I become dragon chow, I don't have to do task 2 or 3.'_

She watched dully as Cedric passed by her in the corridor, surrounded by his friends, As always, he gave her a sad, pleading look. He had tried on many occasions to talk to her but she brushed him off. She couldn't take one more person she loved ("_liked"_she corrected hastily as she looked at Cedric) say anything else to her that would make her wish she was never born. As she turned away, it hit her. '_He didn't know…'_

Without thinking, she raced after him. "Cedric!"

He turned, his face full of hope. The Hufflepuff boys around him glared at her. She scowled and said, "Diggory, can you ask your groupies to sod off? I need to talk to you alone. I won't be more than a minute."

Cedric nodded at them and they reluctantly walked away, throwing her dark looks over their shoulder.

"Leila?" he whispered, his eyes alight, as he stepped closer to her.

She took a step back, her lips in a thin line. Cedric stopped, realizing that this wasn't the reconciliation moment he imagined it to be.

"Dragons." she said, bluntly. "The First Task is dragons. I think we have to get past them or something."

Cedric blinked in astonishment. "I-What?"

"They've got dragons. One for each of us."

Cedric's expression slowly changed to one of panic, which gave Leila some degree of satisfaction. '_Good to know I'm not the only one who doesn't have dragon defeating spells at the tip of my fingers.'_ He quickly schooled his expression and looked at her thoughtfully. "How do you know?"

"Suffice to say I stumbled onto the place they're keeping them."

Cedric continued to look at her, his expression intense. "And you're telling me…? You do care about me!" he breathed, a soft smile flooding his face.

Leila fought the urge to kick him in the nuts for being arrogant enough to think she was telling him because she was mooning over him.

"I spotted Madame Maxime and Karakoff there and they're sure to tell Fleur and Victor. That would leave you the only one walking in blind tomorrow." she said coldly. "And as much as I would love to see a dragon munch on your face, basic courtesy indicates I do the right thing and tell you too. It's only fair… You're Hufflepuff. This is supposed to be up your alley. I shouldn't have to explain this to you."

Cedric's face fell. "Leila, please…"

She had already turned and was about to walk away when he caught her hand and pulled her back towards him. Leila stopped breathing when she found herself held tight against his chest, his determined expression meeting her stunned one.

"Diggory, Potter. Nice to see you two getting along." A gruff voice startled them both.

Mad Eye Moody stood there, looking at them both with undisguised amusement. Leila pushed Cedric away, mortified.

"Diggory, off you go. Professor McGonagall won't be happy with you missing class. Potter, walk with me."

Leila found herself being dragged off by Mad Eye. She waited warily for him to speak. Mad Eye seemed to have taken a keen interest in her, especially after she effortlessly fought off the Imperius Curse the very first time.

_"Jump on the table, Leila."_

_"Okay… Wait. Why?"_

_"Why? Just jump…"_

_"I-But why? Seems like a daft thing to do."_

_"Just do it."_

_"What do you think I am? A circus monkey? Bugger off."_

"So…" he said looking at her with frank curiosity. "All set for tomorrow?"

"Yeah." she said, the lie slipping out automatically.

"Really? What's the plan?"

"Leave it up to blind panic and adrenaline."

"What's plan B?"

"I'm good at improvisation. Besides, the first task is meant to check your emergency response skills. No preparation allowed, as proclaimed by Bagman and Crouch."

Mad Eye snorted. "Stop pretending to be naïve, Potter. Everybody cheats. That's expected. So you can bet the others will have a plan including Diggory, now that you've told him."

"I don't know how to get past a dragon. The last time I dealt with one, it was a newborn Norwegian Ridgeback and it almost snacked on me."

"The trick, Potter, is keeping it simple. Play by your strengths."

They had reached the Entrance Hall. He grasped her shoulder and looked at her, even his large X-Ray vision one focused on her face. "You'll be fine, Potter. Trust me. Simplicity is the key."

He walked away leaving her to ponder his words and it clicked.

'_Simple… and ingenious. Mad Eye, you inspiring psychopath!'_

"You've nailed it!" said Hermione, approvingly. The both looked around at the large assortment of books, bags, quills and cloaks lying around them.

Leila smiled. "Yeah. Thanks Herm!"

Hermione looked at her a bit worriedly. "You have the first task tomorrow... While I'm glad you finally decided to learn the Summoning Charm, shouldn't you learn something else? We don't know what's in store..."

Leila felt bad keeping Hermione in the dark but she knew she wouldn't get a wink of sleep if she found out a Dragon was on the cards and Leila just couldn't bring herself to make her worry any more.

"It'll be fine. They said the first task is supposed to be impromptu. How bad can it be?"

"I guess." said Hermione, still looking troubled.

Leila sat by herself in the empty Common Room, long after Hermione had gone to bed. Her nerves wouldn't let her sleep. A tapping sound snapped her out of her thoughts. Hedwig was outside the window. She quickly let her owl in. She was carrying two letters, one from Remus and Sirius each.

_Dear Leila,_

_I know I've been obsessively worrying and driving you mad. I wish I could protect you from the repeated hell life keeps throwing at you and it frustrates and angers me that I have to stand by and watch again._

_That being said, you've defeated Voldemort thrice by the time you're twelve, beaten a Basilisk and produced a full fledged Patronus at the age of 13._

_You are a truly remarkable witch and I have complete faith in you. You won't just get through tomorrow, you'll be phenomenal._

_Good luck and write to me as soon as it's over. I'll be waiting here, worrying and pleading with the Universe to stand by you in my stead, as always._

_With all the love in the world,_

_Remus_

Leila felt tears prickle in her eyes. She could never get used this - a family who loved and believed in her. Grabbing a piece of parchment, she wrote:

_Dearest Moony,_

_You sentimental, old man. Your faith will make me move mountains (a muggle reference for doing something impossible. Please don't reply with a list of spells that can actually move a mountain.)_

_I'll survive and you're going to have to endure my stealing your Honeydukes bars, for the rest of our long lives._

_Till tomorrow,_

_Leila_

She looked at the other letter, biting her lip. As angry with Sirius as she was, she missed him so much that it felt like large portions of her heart had just ceased to help with the blood pumping activity all of last month. Imminent death by dragon crumbled her pride and she tentatively picked up the letter.

_Leila,_

_You are the light of my life. All that is good in me, you hold in your hands. I'm a damaged, miserable excuse for a living being and you are the only part of me that makes me truly human._

_Take care of yourself. If you die, I die with you._

_I know I broke your heart. Don't break mine. I'm aware how incredibly selfish that is, but I don't care._

_I love you._

_Sirius_

Sirius sat in front of the fire, drinking his eleventh glass of neat Firewhisky. It was almost dawn. The First Task was a few hours away and his mind whirred with terrible possibilities. Hedwig swooped in and he jumped up. She had _two_ letters. _She had replied to him_.

He grabbed the one addressed to him and ripped it open. A single line of writing stared up at him.

_Don't be so melodramatic. I love you too._

McGonagall, Moody and Hagrid rushed to her as she got off the broom, clutching the egg to her, unable to stop a broad grin spreading over her face. To her complete shock, McGonagall pulled her into a hug.

"You did it! Brilliant, Potter!"

Hagrid was cheering loudly while Moody just grinned at her.

"Simple, neat solution, Potter. Good job!"

She was ushered into the medic tent where Madame Promfrey patched up her shoulder.

"For a change, your injury isn't the worst." she told her drily.

Leila started. "Is everybody okay?"

"Yes. Mr Krum and Miss Delacour have already been discharged from my care. Mr Diggory will be fine." She gestured to the curtain behind her. As soon as she left, Leila hopped off her bed and tentatively peeked around the curtain. Cedric was leaning back against the bed, holding onto his own egg, half his face covered in an orange paste.

"Oh my god, what happened to you? asked Leila in alarm.

Cedric looked up her and smiled slightly. "Got a face-full of dragon fire breath but no permanent damage. You?"

Leila glanced at her shoulder and said, "The Horntail parting wave was a little too enthusiastic but it's definitely one of my tamer injuries."

"I'll bet. I mean, you do still have all your bones this time."

"Don't remind me."

Cedric looked at her hesitantly. Leila couldn't help melting just a little bit. She smiled softly and said, "I'm glad you're okay." He smiled back and said, "Likewise."

Their moment was interrupted by Hermione and much to her amazement, Blaise.

Hermione threw her arms around her and yelled, "Dragons! _Dragons!"_Leila gave her a slightly apologetic look. She just laughed and hugged her again. "You're okay! You're more than okay!"

Blaise stood behind her with a grin on his face. "Nice one, Potter. Trust you to jump at any opportunity to use your broom. I think I subconsciously knew."

He gestured down at his scarf. Leila burst out laughing. He was wearing her Gryffindor lucky Quidditch scarf that he had stolen from her last year before her game with Hufflepuff, as potential blackmail.

"Your mates let you sit with them wearing that?"

"Of course not. I had the sense to sit with the Ravenclaw boys who are part of your fan club." he laughed, waggling his eyebrows at her. Hermione turned to Cedric, giving them their space. She and Blaise never spoke and it made Leila appreciate the fact that both of them were at least trying to be civil with each other around her.

Leila's smile slowly faded. Standing by the tent entrance was Ron, looking stricken. Blaise looked over his shoulder, raised his eyebrows and said, "Catch you later, Potter. I don't want to see the waterworks." He strode off, making it a point to shove against Ron with his shoulder as he passed him. Hermione had turned her attention back at them, looking warily from Leila to Ron.

Ron took a deep breath. "I thought you were going to die."

"Yes well, being a hero has its drawbacks. One of the many hazards of being an attention seeking prat, I guess."

Ron's face crumbled. "Leila, I'm a bastard for saying that. I should've apologized the very next day but you were angry and that made me even angrier and it just... spiralled." The tent was dead quiet. She could practically feel both Cedric and Hermione holding their breath, waiting for her response.

"It's fine. You weren't the only one to think that." She gave Cedric a nasty look, making him wince.

"But I'm one of the people who should've known better." said Ron quietly.

"Yeah. You should've."

They both stared at each other. Ron swallowed. "W-Will you forgive me?"

Leila walked up to him and punched him right on the nose. He stumbled back, clutching his face, blood trickling down. "OW!"

"Now we're good."

Ron looked up, eyes watering. "Fair enough. I deserved that."

Leila pointed her wand at his nose and muttered "Episkey." Ron's nose stopped bleeding and his broken cartilage fixed itself. Wiping his nose on the sleeve of his robes, he held out his hand to shake Leila's. She snorted and pulled him into a tight hug. Both of them found a wailing Hermine hugging them both, calling them idiots. Then she ran off sobbing, leaving a bemused Ron and Leila to stare after her.

"Want to go get your scores?"

"Yeah. Fill me in?"

And they both walked off, arm in arm, leaving Cedric thinking he was lucky to have gotten off without getting punched.

Her face off with the Hungarian Horntail was so impressive that it won over quite a bit of the female population as well as quite a few Hufflepuff admirers. It also seemed to have created a pro-Hogwarts camp, where everybody just wanted either Hogwarts champion to win, drastically reducing the nastiness directed at Leila. Classes returned to normal and Leila found herself, along with the boys in her year, thunderstruck as McGonagall announced the Yule Ball.

"They want us to _dance_? With _girls?_" Neville asked Leila, looking like he'd rather take on Hagrid's Blast Ended Skrewts by himself. The girls seemed keener and although Leila sided with the boys and mirrored their horror, a small part of her couldn't help looking forward to dressing up and twirling about. When she was seven, she'd been taken on a school trip to watch Anastasia in the local theatre and at that time, sitting in the corner most seat by herself wearing Dudley's old t shirt and jeans, twirling around in a dress had seemed like a wonderful dream.

Now, she was older and certainly not the same lonely girl at the theatre, but the seven year old buried deep inside of her couldn't help but be a little excited. But the excitement crashed when she realized she had no idea how to dance and McGonagall informed her that she was one of the centre stage attractions and that she better have an escort to the ball.

She knew who she wanted to go with but watching all the boys around her bumble awkwardly or just be downright crass about the poor girls who did ask them, Leila lost the courage to just walk up to Cedric and ask him to be her partner at the Ball. It didn't help that he was now constantly surrounded by pretty, fluttering girls who seemed to find everything he said funny.

Ginny sat down next to her and glanced over at what she was staring at. "Just ask him." she said bluntly.

"Ask who?" asked Leila, feigning innocence.

"Oh for the love of … Leila, everybody knows you two fancy each other. Just ask or wait and he'll ask. I don't know why he hasn't already."

"Who hasn't what already?" asked Hermione coming up from behind them.

"Leila Potter, the great dragon-ass-kicking, You-Know-Who thrashing champion of Hogwarts is too chicken to ask Cedric Diggory to the Yule Ball."

"Oh that. Well, he's going to ask anyway, so let her be shy."

"I don't know that he will. Look at those girls around him…" said Leila glumly.

Hermione and Ginny stared at her in disbelief. "Seriously? Have you looked in the mirror? And how many people have asked you already?"

It was true that Leila found herself fielding a deluge of invitations from various boys from every year. After her first disastrous "Ohmygodnosorry!" she'd even learnt to let them down easy.

"If anything, Cedric is probably too intimidated to ask!"

Leila snorted in disbelief. "Right. And who's your date, Advice-giver?"

"Neville." said Ginny cheerfully. Hermione and Leila stared at her.

"He was too much of a coward to ask Hannah Abbot and I don't get to go unless an older boy asks me, so I said yes."

"Oookay. And you?" Leila asked Hermione.

Hermione went bright red. She hesitated and said quietly, "It's… please don't tell anybody else. Promise me!" Ginny and Leila leaned in eagerly. A second later, Ginny yelled so loud that a group of second years sitting nearby jumped up in shock. "WHAT?"

"Shhhhhhh!" said Hermione frantically.

Ginny and Leila got up and slow clapped in unison, looking awed. Hermione sunk lower in her seat, muttering something about idiot friends.

After lunch, Leila decided she just ought to get it together and ask Cedric. She slowly edged towards the Hufflepuff table but stopped dead at the sight that greeted her. Fleur Delacour had turned up her Veela charmed to full throttle and Cedric was looking at her in a daze, slowly nodding as the stunning French girl tossed her hair back, running her finger up and down his arm.

Leila did a 180 degree turn and practically ran out of the Great Hall, entertaining a strong need to kill something.

Later that evening, she hid in a dark corner in the library, trying to do an essay for Snape and get the image of Fleur and Cedric out of her head. The sound of someone clearing their throat and sitting across from her made her look up. Blaise was looking intently at his nails.

"Zabini."

"Potter."

"Are you bored?"

"Very."

"I thought as much when you decided to come by and say hello."

"Potter, are you going to the Ball with Diggory?"

"No. And the next person who asks me that will die a painful death."

"Fine. Is there anybody else you have in mind?"

"No."

"Okay. Do you want to go with me?"

"Is this your idea of a joke?"

"You wound me."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

Leila slammed her book shut and looked at him. "Okay. Spill."

Blaise sighed and said, "This Ball is a big deal. All the papers and magazines are going to be there."

"So?"

"I'm trying to land a modelling gig for the Teen Wizards magazine this summer. I need eyes on me and there's nothing like the publicity you get from being a Triwizard Champion's arm candy for the evening."

"But _why_? Isn't your Mum an actress? I thought she'd have the connections!"

"We had a fight this summer and she's made it clear she isn't going to help. I may have made a disparaging comment about her accumulating husbands with every role she gets."

"So you had it coming."

"Yes. So, what say?"

"If you're looking for elegant photos of you sashaying about, you're barking up the wrong tree. I can't dance to save my life."

"We have a few weeks. I'm a fabulous dancer. I'll teach you and you can also shock, stun and amaze and make every man in the room jealous of me so I can be all smug."

"I love how you managed to make the whole thing about you."

"I know. I'm a practicing narcissist. So, will you be my date?"

"Oh alright."

Blasie blinked. "That was easier than I thought it would be."

Leila shrugged dispassionately. "I don't care much about this whole Ball anymore. And if I'm going to get dancing lessons along the way, why not?"

Blaise stood up, looking quite pleased. "Alright then, Miss Potter. I'll see you tomorrow at 7 pm at the entrance to the Charms corridor. There'll be a spare classroom there with enough space for the dance lessons."

"Fare thee well, Mister Zabini. And do me a favour and keep this hush hush. I don't want the entire school starting a new Gryffindor-Slytherin hate saga over this."

"Agreed."

The next day, Leila made her way to Hogmeade with Ron and Hermione, listening to Ron complain about how he still didn't have a date for the Yule Ball.

"Leila!" called a voice from behind her, just as they entered the village. Leila turned slowly, recognizing the voice immediately. Cedric stood alone behind her, looking extremely nervous. Ron and Hermione exchanged a look and sped up, leaving her behind with him. He caught up with her and they walked slowly together.

"Cedric. Hi." Leila said slowly. She could still mentally see Fleur tossing her hair and smiling at him and it made her want to run after Ron and Hermione, leaving him behind. "How can I help you?" she said trying to sound perky.

Cedric ran his hand through his hair, brushing off the snow. Taking a deep breath, he caught her arm, stopping her and forcing her to face him.

"Will you go to the Ball with me?"

Leila stared at him in shock.

Cedric looked at her expectantly. His face slowly took on a more concerned look when she continued to stare at him with a dazed expression.

"Leila?"

"What?"

"The Yule Ball.. You know. The one in two weeks' time?"

"I-Yeah, I know. But... You're asking _me_?"

Cedric looked taken aback. "Well, yes. I mean, we do like each other and I've been trying to ask you out for a year now and the Yule Ball is sort of perfect... What?"

Leila slowly shook her head, her heart sinking all the way to her toes. "B-But Fleur?"

"What about Fleur?"

"Aren't you two going?"

Cedric stared at her, his face shifting from confusion to astonishment. "What gave you that idea?"

"I saw her at the table yesterday. You looked ... keen."

Cedric looked at her in disbelief. "She's half Veela and she was coming onto me. I really can't help the physical reaction. And she did ask. I turned her down because there's only one person I wanted to go with."

"Oh." Leila said, in a very small voice.

"You thought... Oh Leila. I have eyes only for you." he said, slowly reaching out to cup her cheek. She backed away from his touch, her self loathing suffocating her. He stared and a look of comprehension drew across his face.

"You have a date." His tone was clipped.

"I didn't know... I was coming over to ask you if you wanted to go with me... and then I saw... I'm so, so sorry, Cedric." whispered Leila.

Cedric withdrew his hand and just looked at her, his face expressionless. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he continued to look at her. "Tell the other guy to go to hell and come with me."

She had never heard him sound like that - angry and frustrated.

"I can't do that. That's horrible."

Cedric looked away. "Why is it so hard to just _be_ with you?"

Leila frowned. "It isn't. You just need to not think I'm an attention seeking twat or you should've just asked me instead of hanging around your band of girls, giggling away. I mean, what am I supposed to think?"

Cedric looked pained. Leila shook her head and started walking away, looking for Ron and Hermione.

"Who're you going with?" he called. She just ignored him and walked towards The Three Broomsticks, feeling rather pitiful.

Sirius sent her a long complaining letter about how she was missing her first Christmas with them. She promised him that she, like half the school, would take the train back home on Boxing day and stay through New Years'. He'd also been very nosy about who her date to the Ball was and she told him it was top secret. Leila knew he'd have probably gotten angry but given that their recent spat had just come to a conclusion, she was fairly confident he would be careful not to snap at her. And she was right. What she did get was a letter that said,

_Fine! But you have to tell me after the Ball. No secrets between us, remember? It's Diggory, isn't it? No chance you're going to ask me to be your date then?_

Leila knew he was just kidding but then the strangest thought crossed her mind.

'_If there's anybody I'd take to a Ball and dance the night away with, even more than Cedric, it'd be you, Sirius.'_


	10. Chapter 10

"This is so funny." Blaise whispered to her, gleefully as the champions and their partners made their way to the front towards the table where the school heads sat. Leila didn't think it was _that_ funny. The Entire Great Hall was staring at them with expressions that largely fell under shock, horror and astonishment. Leila was glad that Krum and Hermione were taking the heat off them to some extent.

"Look at Malfoy!" hissed Blaise, nudging her. Pansy and him looked like they were having a heart attack.

"Zabini, can you calm down?" muttered Leila. She was already having a hard time navigating her way with the long, flowing dress, high heels and attempting to walk straight ahead without looking at Cho and Cedric in front of them.

Leila wished, for the thousandth time, he hadn't asked Cho. Of all the giggling girls, Leila actually liked the Ravenclaw Seeker and it made it hard for to even properly despise his date.

She exhaled in relief when they reached the table and sat in their allocated seats. She was right next to Karakoff, who had Dumbledore on his other side. Karakoff looked at her with an unreadable expression and she considered asking Blaise to switch places. But she quickly caught herself when she realized that Cedric was on the other side of her date.

The dinner was boring and Blaise and her amused themselves by looking around at the various couples and laughing. Leila was pleased to see that Hermione and Krum looked like they were actually enjoying themselves as were Ron and Susan Bones. Ron seemed to be doing his best to keep a neutral expression on his face every time his eyes drifted her or Hermione's way. Leila knew that the memory of the recent fight was still fresh in his mind and he wouldn't say anything outright even if he clearly disapproved of both his best friends' partners.

She could hear Percy (who was standing in for Crouch) loudly discussing international trade policies with Cho, who to her credit, seemed to be putting the effort to pretend to be interested. Bagman kept trying to engage Fleur and Anthony in a conversation, no mean feat seeing as Anthony looked like he'd long lost track of where he was and what he was doing, his eyes glued to his date. Madame Maxime's eyes drifted to Hagrid every now and then.

As Leila and Blaise snickered at everything they could see from their vantage point, she slowly relaxed. She was glad she had come in with him because their constant banter helped put her at ease.

All too soon, she was pulled out of her comfort zone when it was time to open the dance floor.

She struggled to look nonchalant but Blaise picked up on her nervousness.

"Come on, Potter." he murmured in her ear as he led her to the centre of the floor. "You can do this! I told you, you've gotten good after all the lessons! Now show some of that annoying Gryffindor bravado and let's give these idiots something to really look at!"

"Can you stop being such an attention whore?"

He laughed easily. "I come from a family where glamour and attention is everything. Tonight, you're in my world. Enjoy it."

The music started and Leila had to concede that Blaise had been a brilliant teacher. She knew exactly what to do and halfway into the dance, she had to admit that he was right. They were stealing the show and for a change, all the attention didn't bother her as much as it would have normally.

With every new song both of them switched up the steps and soon she was laughing comfortably as he spun her around, causing her dress to swirl around her.

"If you ever tell anybody I said this, I will happily poke your eyes out. But... This is amazing. I feel like a fairy tale princess!" she whispered to him as he pulled her close to him for a slow, romantic number. The floor had filled up around them and with everyone doing their own thing, Blaise and her could relax and tone down the showy dance steps to a more casual one.

Blaise smiled and surprised her by picking her up and spinning her around, making her laugh out loud.

"What was that?" she asked when he put her down.

"Your Prince Charming, Diggory, was watching. I just couldn't resist."

"You're a bitch, Zabini." said Leila, shaking her head, unable to stop the grin spreading across her face.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and she found Terry Boot standing over her shoulder.

"May I cut in?" he asked lightly, though the wariness in his eyes reflected just how nervous he was. Blaise smiled and graciously stepped back and gestured his head towards where the Witch Weekly correspondent was seated, indicating to Leila where he could be found if she needed him.

Terry danced with her briefly and Leila found herself making easy conversation. But soon she was intercepted by multiple people, including George Weasley (who spent most of his dance with her telling her how she was going to be his new prank testing subject for picking a Slytherin for a date), Dean Thomas, Justin Finch-Fletchly and Ron.

"You and Susan look like you're having fun." said Leila smirking at him. Ron went red.

"She's nice and I thought hey, why not." he said in a would-be-casual voice.

"So you staring at her in every Herbology class had nothing to with it?"

"Well, some of us ask the people we're crushing on to go to a Ball with us. If I do it your way, Susan would be here with Cho Chang."

"Touche."

Ron suddenly froze, his eyes narrowing. "No bloody way." he hissed.

Leila turned around and saw Theodore Nott behind her, holding out his hand and smiling like it was no big deal. Before she could protest, she found herself being swept into his arms.

"This is new. I never thought I'd be in physical contact with you unless it was in a fight after a Quidditch match." said Leila dryly, as he pulled her closer and swayed to the music.

"I wanted to see why Zabini would risk shit from all of us to have you on his arm. Aside from the fact that you're quite a looker, for a halfblood."

"And a half-hearted attempt at a compliment too. Be still, my heart."

"I see you've set your sights on a pureblood boy from a respectable family. Weasleys and Longbottoms not quite up to the mark?"

"That's right, Nott. I decided to scale up my pretentious bullshit quotient and what better way to do it that associate with pureblood boys from Slytherin? I got that tactic from Voldemort. It worked fabulously for him."

"Don't say his name!" hissed Nott, his grip on her waist tightening painfully.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Surely you're not afraid of a halfblood psyhopath, are you? You're too good for that, what with your impeccable breeding and all."

Nott looked her dangerously, pulling her tight against him. "I'd be more careful if I were you, Potter."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I'm offering you an alternate option. If you're keen on upgrading the company you keep, we'd be happy to consider having you."

"An invite to be a part of the privileged-gits-of-the-dungeon group? Oh my, this is the best day ever! How ever can I thank you, kind sir?"

Nott looked at her coolly, his grip on her excruciating. She refused to acknowledge it, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was hurting her. He started to say something when he was cut off by a cold voice.

"Nott, I recommend you let go of Potter. You're cutting off her blood supply with that grip of yours and we don't need to give her an excuse to faint and cause a scene."

Severus Snape swept in and took her arm, leading her to edge of the dance floor.

He frowned at her as she stared at him in astonishment.

'_Did Snape just come to my rescue?'_

_"_What are you playing at, Potter?" he said in a low voice, and Leila could swear she heard concern in his voice.

"_I'm_ not doing anything, sir. That troll cut in, not the other way around." She winced slightly, feeling the bruises form under her dress robe.

Snape noticed her flinch and his face darkened. "I recommend you restrict your exposure of Slytherin boys to Blaise Zabini. The rest of them aren't the kind of company the Girl-Who-Lived ought to keep, if you value your life."

"Yes, sir. Well, at least no one can accuse me of not trying to do away with all this inter-house prejudice." she said with a sigh, still trying to wrap her head around the idea that Snape was actually saying something to her that didn't involve insulting her or her friends or her father.

Something suspiciously like regret flickered in Snape's eyes at her words.

"You aren't the first and you won't be the last to give that a go, Potter."

Leila looked at him curiously.

"Leila?"

Blaise stood behind her, looking uncharacteristically worried. Snape took the opportunity to disappear back to the staff table.

"Hey." she said, still distracted by Snape's bizarre behaviour. "How'd the flirting session with the Witch Weekly journalist go?"

"I reduced her to a puddle of estrogen, obviously. Everything okay? Nott looked like he wasn't being very amicable."

"When does anybody in that clique ever look anything other than hostile? By the way, they're not happy with you." she said.

"They're unhappy with most people. The difference is the way they demonstrate it. If they want to give me shit, they'll ignore me and refuse to invite me for a couple of the shindigs at their manors over the summer. If they're unhappy with _you,_ they'll try to use you as target practice. Hence, my slightly higher concern for your well being."

"How did _you_ turn out relatively normal surrounded by that lot?"

"My strong belief that I'm superior to _everybody_ makes me uniquely liberal. I'm not discriminating about who to be condescending to."

"The inside of your head must be a truly uncomplicated place to navigate through."

"Don't think I don't know you're insulting me."

"I wasn't trying particularly hard to be subtle."

"Good. A subtle Gryffindor would be rather paradoxical."

"Did you know the Sorting Hat tried to put me in Slytherin?"

"And you're Parseltongue. I'm surprised your housemates haven't killed you in your sleep."

"Every now and then, it comes under serious consideration. Then I win a Quidditch match and it extends the lease on my life."

"Do you see why I nurture my superiority complex?"

Both of them had made their way outside, heading towards the garden lit by actual fairy lights.

They drifted further away from the castle till they were almost at the woods. The soft glow from the nearby lights illuminated their outlines and Leila felt everything in the air stir with strange magic.

She leaned against the tree and looked at Blaise absently. He looked back at her and smiled. He took her hand and interlaced her fingers with his.

"Thank you. For tonight." she murmured.

"You too. It was nice. It's been a while since I've had so much fun." he said, sounding surprisingly sincere.

They looked at one another, observing they way the other person's face was illuminated by the soft light from the nearby fairy bushes. Leila felt a sudden urge to make use of this magical moment, immortalize it her head. She hesitantly opened her mouth but Blaise beat her to it.

"Do you want to make out?"

"Wow. Way to sweep me off my feet, Zabini."

"It's a pretty night. We've had a good evening together. Your boy wonder is cavorting about with Cho Chang and I have no other emotional attachments, aside from my mum and she has her husbands for this sort of thing."

"I'm going to pretend I never heard the last part. Your Mommy issues aside, you've never kissed anyone before?"

"No. Never got around to cornering a girl and be convincing enough so that she'd let me."

"If this is the sales pitch you're using, I think I see the problem."

"That's why I want it to be you. You're not dramatic and we're too uncomplicated to think this will change anything between us. We'll still be banter buddies and not feel the need to validate this with some pseudo relationship."

"That's actually quite a compelling argument. Alright then."

Blaise leaned in slowly. Their lips met, soft, unsure. Neither had any idea what to do. Blaise lightly pressed his lips against hers and she pressed back, just as gently. It was a soft, tender moment, perfect in its imperfection. They moved apart and looked at one another in wonder.

Leila reached out and brushed his hair away from his forehead. "It's so bizarre to see you shelve your cockiness and look so uncertain."

"It is humiliating, but worth it."

"How so?"

"One day, when I commission my autobiography, I'll get to brag to the world that Leila Potter and I were each other's first kiss. What a legendary story."

Leila started laughing. "Were you born without a verbal filter or do you just dispense of it in my presence?"

He grinned cheekily at her and said, "Just you, Potter. You bring out the worst in me."

They laughed together until they realized how close their bodies were, lightly touching. Blaise grabbed her shoulders and pulled her flush against his body and pressed his mouth hard against hers. She kissed back just as hard, opening her mouth, tasting him.

He groaned softly, his hand clutching her waist, hers tangling in his dark hair. This kiss was nothing like the one they shared moments ago. This was more heated.

"As your Head Boy, I'm going to ask the two of you to go back inside. You're out of bounds!" snarled an angry voice.

They broke apart to find Cedric standing a few feet away, looking furious.

Blaise was the first to recover. "Head Boy? You're pulling that card? Wow, you must be _pissed_."

Cedric pulled his wand out, looking very testy.

"Whoa! Relax! We're going." Leila intervened, grabbing Blaise to pull him away back to the castle, her face maroon with shame. The magic in the air had dispelled leaving her with the cold reality of having been caught snogging Blaise by her personal boy wonder.

"Just you." snapped Cedric, gesturing at Blaise with his wand. "Time to say good night and leave. I want a word with Leila."

Blaise looked at Leila and saw that she was still rattled and decided to muster some indignation on her behalf. "You want me to leave my date out here in the cold, go back in and do what? Escort _your_ girl back? Does Chang even know you're out here?"

"Yes." said Cedric flatly, looking at Leila, aware that the question was really meant to be from her. "I sent her off and came looking for you."

Blaise looked thoughtful. Then he smirked. He bent down and kissed Leila on her cheek, pausing to whisper in her ear, "Consider my leaving right now a Christmas present of sorts. Have fun and Merry Christmas!"

"How the hell is this fun?" she hissed at him.

He just smiled and walked away, positive that Diggory's current testosterone rush would put an end to the ridiculous cat and mouse game he and Potter had been playing for the last year or so.

Leila crossed her arms and looked at Cedric defiantly. He glared back.

"Take the egg for a bath."

"_What?_"

"The egg for the second task. Listen to it underwater. Use the prefects' bathroom, if required. The password is pine fresh"

"Oh. Okay. Thanks." She had completely forgotten about the very existence of the banshee egg.

"I thought you liked me." he said, accusingly.

"I do."

"You've got a funny way of showing it then, kissing another bloke, with a lot of enthusiasm, might I add."

"I learnt that from watching you paw at Cho, back at the Great Hall."

Cedric looked abashed. "I-I know. That was stupid. I was just so angry and … I couldn't stand watching him dance with you!"

"I know. I was jealous too."

"Is that why you kissed Zabini? To get back at me?"

"No." she admitted, deciding to be honest. "It was outright curiosity and seeing as you've been ignoring me the last two weeks, I had no way of knowing you were coming back anywhere near me. So it's not like I knew there was any point in waiting for you."

"Have you gone completely mad?"

He had slowly inched towards her during their exchange and now stood facing her, inches apart. Leila looked up into those blue eyes she dreamt of so often and swallowed hard. He reached out and slowly pulled her to him

"Go out with me, Leila."

Leila stared at him for a second before pulling away, shaking her head.

Cedric looked crushed. She quickly said, "I don't mean… Yes! I will. Just… ask me again, another day?"

"I don't understand."

She looked uncomfortable. "I want nothing more than to say yes now, but not today. Not on the same night, minutes after I kissed Blaise. I don't want to feel like a complete _tramp_."

Cedric's eyes widened. "I would never- you're not a tramp! I understand completely-"

"I know. But still, I don't want this, us, starting like this. You're still kind of angry and in the mood to prove a point and I'm still embarrassed at being caught…"

Cedric's shoulders slumped. "Alright. Can I atleast walk you back to the castle?"

The next day, she hastily chucked some clothes and the little model of the Hungarian Horntail into a small duffel bag. She wanted Remus and Sirius to have it in the flat. She was running late to catch the train and she was glad to have a good excuse not to pause and make conversation in Common Room where everyone was still fuming about her choice of date to the Yule Ball. Hermione, Neville and her ran into the train platform. The train was mostly empty, with most of the students, including the Weasleys, opting to stay back for New Years as well. Hermione stopped short in front of her, making Leila crash into her and consequently Neville into Leila.

"Herm! What are – oh." Cedric stood in front of them, looking very chirpy. "Hi Hermione, Neville. Would you mind if I borrowed Leila for the ride?"

"S-sure?" said Hermione, giving Leila a stunned look. She grabbed Neville and dragged him a couple of compartments ahead. Cedric held the door of the carriage open and gestured her in. She clambered in, wondering what he could possibly want to talk about now.

She went into the compartment and found that it was empty. On a seat was a bouquet of white roses. The train started moving and she was acutely aware of Cedric behind her. She felt him take her bag off her shoulder and place it in the luggage rack above. She slowly turned around and found him advancing on her. She backed away until the back of her knees hit the seats, forcing her to sit down. He knelt in front of her, picked up the bouquet and said, "Leila, be my girlfriend."

"I-But…"

"You said ask another day. You didn't say how long I should wait for another day. Say yes. And keep in mind it was Christmas yesterday and this is the best gift I could ever ask for, ever."

Leila looked at his face, that irresistible smile and her lips twitched. "Are you using emotional blackmail?"

"All's fair in love and war."

"… Yes?"

She had never seen him smile that widely before.

He laced his fingers through her hair and pulled her to him. She wrapped her arms around him and they kissed softly.

'_Merry Christmas to you too, Blaise.'_

Leila and Cedric spent the next few hours not talking, far too busy with her on his lap, engaging in non verbal activity.

Almost at King's Cross, Leila reluctantly came up for air. Cedric moaned in protest, his hands gripping her sweater, his mouth latched onto her neck, sucking softly.

"Cedric…" she whimpered, struggling to remember what she had been trying to say.

"Hmmm?"

"Cedric, we can't tell anyone about us."

He slowed his ministrations on her neck and looked up at her, puzzled. "Why not?"

"It'll get political. Two Hogwarts champions and it's not going to be perceived as objective if we're involved."

Cedric frowned. "I don't care what anybo-"

"That's my line, not yours. You voluntarily put your name in the goblet, remember?" she said, lightly kissing him on the tip of his nose. "If you win, I don't want anyone questioning the legitimacy of your victory."

He looked at her with a slight frown, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "You don't want to win?"

"Not a chance. I just want to survive it. I want no part in any victory whatsoever."

Cedric looked a bit sad. "But you're _good_. You got the highest points in the first task."

"It wasn't my intention. And I played my best foot forward in the very first task. Flying is my only real skill. I'm going to have a horrendous time in the coming tasks."

Cedric laughed and said, "You really amaze me. You have no idea just how incredible you are…"

She rolled her eyes and pulled back a bit. "I'm serious. Please."

Cedric sighed and said, "Alright. We'll hide and be secretive till this is over. But," he added narrowing his eyes, "If any of the other boys try anything, especially that Ravenclaw fan following of yours…"

Leila scowled at him. "Don't be ridiculous. And the same can be said about the gaggle of girls orbiting you."

"Point taken. Now kiss me, please. We have under a minute before we reach."

Both of them walked out, under the assumption that they looked perfectly normal. Sirius met her at the end of the platform and stared at her. Her hair was disheveled, her lips were swollen and her eyes were a bit glassy. She looked _wanton_. Sirius found himself swallowing hard, his skin tingling at the sight of her looking like _that_.

Hugging her, he asked carefully, "Are you sick?"

"No. Why?"

"You look a bit … all over the place."

Leila flushed a darker shade of red. "I'm fine." she said hurriedly. "Let's go?"

Sirius decided he better change the subject too because the way he was feeling now was starting to scare him a bit. That's when he noticed the roses in her hand.

"You're carrying flowers." he stated, looking astonished.

"I like flowers." she said defensively.

"Really? Since when d-" he stopped dead. Cedric Diggory had come up behind him and waved casually. A little too casually. "Mr Black, Leila. Have a good holiday and Happy New Year."

"You too." said Leila calmly.

But Sirius had already caught sight of Cedric's worked on lips and the way his eyes lingered on Leila.

Blood rushed to his ears and he clenched his fist. A voice in his head, sounding a lot like James Potter, said 'N_ot here. Later. Ask her about it later and murder Diggory someplace where there are no witnesses.'_

Leila had already started walking towards the underground station and Sirius followed slowly, trying to see past the crimson clouding his vision.

Leila gave him a detailed account of her adventure with the Horntail and on reaching home, she gave him the minuscule model. "I think I've made my peace with dragons." she told him.

"If that's your way of saying you want one, I should clarify that you may have me confused with Hagrid." said Sirius.

Remus walked into the room and pulled her into an embrace. "I'm sorry I couldn't pick you up. I had to go to work."

"Work?" asked Leila slowly.

Remus grinned at her. "The Hampstead Warlock Library called me back. I was second on their list and the wizard who they gave the job to in September moved to Glasgow. So, they got in touch with me and made an offer."

Leila's jaw dropped. "You're telling me this now? We have to celebrate!"

"Yes we are!" he promised. "I'm just going out to get some wine and chocolate. I'll be back in a few minutes."

Sirius waited till Remus left before turning to her casually. "So, I guess it's just you and me. Tea?"

"Sure!"

"Why don't you take off your coat and scarf? The house is warm."

Leila nodded and went to coat closet and started hanging up her stuff. As a she pulled off her scarf, she suddenly felt the side of her neck. It felt a bit raw. '_Oh no…'_

"Leila?" called Sirius.

She quickly retied the scarf and went back to the kitchen. Sirius looked pointedly at her neck and raised his eyebrows.

"I'm still feeling a bit cold." she said nervously.

Sirius just stared at her. Then without warning, he reached out and puller scarf off, revealing a dark, circular mark at the side of her throat. He just looked at it, poker faced.

Leila felt sick. She had been nervous at the prospect of Sirius and Remus finding out what she had gotten up to but now she felt the physical need to sit down and breathe into a paper bag. Somehow, this felt a thousand times worse than Cedric walking in on her and Blaise. This felt like an infinitely larger betrayal of some sort.

Sirius came around the table slowly. His face betrayed nothing but Leila caught the predatory look in his eyes_._ He lightly ran a finger down the side of her throat and Leila felt a shiver run down her spine. Even in her tensed state, she recognized it wasn't a shiver of fear. It felt like anticipation, longing even…

"Eventful train journey?"

"A bit."

"Diggory?" his lips were almost at her ears, making her close her eyes and savour the feeling.

"Y-No."

"Liar."

She opened her eyes and turned to look at him. Her green eyes met dark, stormy gray ones. She felt herself fall into them, her hands slowly going up and clutching the front of his robes. His head cocked to the side and they stared at each other, the few inches between them crackling with tension.

The front door slammed, making them both jump apart. Remus came striding in, looking furious.

"What happened?" asked Leila, still a bit hazy.

Remus held up the evening copy of the Daily Prophet. "Skeeter." he said furiously.

Leila's head cleared instantly. "What did she do _now_?" asked Leila with a groan.

Leila's first 'interview' with Rita Skeeter had involved being locked in a broom closet and bombarded with questions. A rather pissed off Leila either chose to remain silent or crisply state 'No Comment.'

The article that came out as a result of that almost made Leila consider going back to the Durlseys' and hiding in Privet Drive till Armageddon. She got painted as a tragic hero and she was 'quoted' saying thing that she couldn't ever imagine running through her mind, let alone saying them out loud to a reporter.

Remus glowered as he flipped to the lifestyle section and read

_The Yule Ball at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry topped this year's list of high profile social events. Guests were treated to more than just great food, marvelous music and a chance to rub shoulders with the who's who of the wizarding world._

_Scandal, especially that centered on one of the Triwizard Champions, made the evening interesting for by-standers. Leila Potter, the Tournament's wild card entry and the youngest champion, has already made her mark on the world with her famous defeat of the Dark Lord. Now, the beautiful young woman seems to have set out to make a mark of a very different kind. Her evening was spent wildly alternating between the romantic company of her date, Blaise Zabini, son of the renowned actress Darla Zabini and that of Cedric Diggory, fellow Hogwarts champion and school Head Boy. Sources say that Miss Potter is known to have been at the receiving end of both boys' affections and is said to have indulged herself thoroughly in both their attentions. Well, you can never have 'two' much of a good thing, can you Miss Potter? Save some for us, love!_

Leila buried her head in hands. The worst part of the article was, unlike the last rag Skeeter produced, this one was substantially truthful.

Remus furiously crushed the paper in his hands. "Despicable tabloid bullshit."

"Hmm…" Sirius said softly. "I believe I need to change my previous question from _who_ gave you that hickey to _who all_ contributed?" His voice was like the Arctic Pole in mid December.

"Sirius!" snapped Remus, horrified.

Leila had had enough of Sirius' goading and struck by a sudden, irrational urge to _hurt_ him, she looked up and said coolly, "You mean aside from Blaise and Cedric? Honestly, it's a bit of a long list and I can't remember all their names. Why don't we just wait for Skeeter's next article? I'm sure she'll mention all their names in that one." She leveled her gaze at Sirius' frozen expression and said, "Gentlemen, Good night."

She stalked off to her room, slamming the door shut behind her, leaving Remus looking rather concerned. "Sirius, that was so uncalled for!" he said, exasperatedly. But Sirius too had stormed off into his own room, slamming the door shut as well.

Remus sat at the table, troubled. His mind flashed back to the night when he had casually remarked to James that karma would probably ensure that Leila would be hounded by boys the way he had hounded Lily.

He would never forget the look on James' face when he said that. He had spent the rest of the night listing out all the horrible things he would do to anyone who as much as looked at her, while Lily laughed at him non stop.

'_I thought you were being ridiculous back then, James. But blimey, I could use some help right now. Sirius is a bigger problem than of help.'_

That night, Leila had one of her bizarre dreams with her parents, Sirius and Remus. Later, she would think how it was a bit stranger than usual. She had no way of knowing that this one was different because the people in her dreams now knew she was very real and very much present with them and were having a bit of a meltdown.

_The wind blew gently against her face as she drifted in the sky. She could see the Astronomy Tower up ahead. She knew she wasn't on a broom. She looked down and her eyes widened. She was on the back of a Hungarian Horntail. But the dragon seemed peaceful, his wings leisurely beating as he brought her closer to the tower. Four people stood there. She knew who it'd be._

_Her parents, Sirius and Remus were watching her, their eyes wide. Lily was holding James' hand tightly, tears in her eyes. Leila vaguely registered that something about their expression was a bit off. Normally there was grief and regret. This time... it was something else. Was that hope? Longing? Excitement? _

_The dragon leveled near the window and hovered. Leila looked at them and sighed. _

_"Just what I need." she told them grumpily. "Losing sleep over watching Lord Whatshisface murder you, again. That'll complete my day."_

_Sirius cautiously stepped closer. "Leila..."_

_She looked at him and smiled sadly. "I like you better in my dreams. You're less of a jerk."_

_He looked taken aback. "Am I... Did I do something?"_

_"It'd be nice to get through a month at the least without having a massive fight."_

_"I FIGHT with you?" The disbelief on his face confused Leila. _

_"All the time, remember? But I may have asked for it this time..." _

_He looked crushed. "I'm so sorry... I can't believe I... Merlin..." _

_Remus stepped up beside him, his eyes fixed on her. "Honey, why are you on a dragon?"_

_"I like them. I might get one. Hagrid will be thrilled."_

_Remus' eyes widened. "Hagrid? You know him? H-He's alive?"_

_Leila suddenly got the feeling that something was very, very wrong. For one, they never usually had a conversation. And secondly, all their questions made no sense. Leila backed away to the dragon's tail. _

_James realized she was confused. "Leila, sweetheart, please... Talk to us..." His eyes were full of pain._

_"What's the point, Potter? You're all going to die." hissed a voice from inside the Tower and on cue, Voldemort stepped up, his red eyes gleaming. Holding up his wand, he hissed, "Avada Kedavra!"_

_Leila wasn't the only one screaming. _

She woke up as the green light of the curse flashed could feel the tears run down her cheeks. She thought she'd gotten used to this but tonight, it had affected her terribly. Her clock told her it was 6 am. She got up, knowing that was all the sleep she would get. She found her way to the kitchen, hungry from skipping dinner. She found Remus there, reading. Leila felt terrible. She had bailed on him in her anger last night and the dream with all of them being murdered made her feel even worse. She went up to him and hugged him. He put his arm around her and pulled her onto his lap.

"I'm sorry." her voice muffled against his shoulder. "Every time Sirius and I fight, you get the worst of it."

"It's like being a single parent with two hormonal teenagers at home." he agreed.

"I will make it up to you. Tonight, I'm cooking."

"Deal." Remus hesitated and said, "Leila, I know you're growing up and boys are part of the deal. I think-"

"Remus, are you trying to have the talk with me? Because I've got it worked out, thank you very much. And the article made it out a lot more dramatic than it was. I promise."

"So who was it? Blaise or Cedric?"

"Erm... Both?"

"Leila! You said-"

"Yes, yes! I swear! Blaise is just a friend. He was my date. We... er... it was just curiosity. We kissed. Cedric found us and got jealous."

"But I thought you and Cedric liked each other?"

"How do you know that?"

"I taught last year, remember? I noticed the looks you were giving each other. And Sirius may have ranted about it non stop after the World Cup."

"Oh. Well yes, but it was a case of misunderstanding and we ended up asking other people... Look, it's a long story but we're together now."

"You and Blaise?"

"No! Cedric!"

"I'm losing track of this conversation."

"Blaise and I are friends. Cedric is my boyfriend as of yesterday. But we're being secretive because it'll look bad, what with both of us being Triwizard Champions."

"Ah. Okay."

"Don't tell anyone."

"Done."

"Not even Sirius."

Remus stared at her. She gave him a pleading look. "Please. I just... I dunno."

Remus sighed. "I won't tell him. But you should. If he finds out from someone else..."

"He won't. I mean, I'll tell him when I'm ready."

He gave her a look. Then he grimaced. He took out a piece of parchment from his pocket and hesitantly handed it to her, his face going a bit pink.

"Look, I'm giving it to you because it's the responsible thing to do. But please don't... you know. Just don't do it. But if you do... Use it. But don't do it. Not yet."

Leila looked at him, bemused. She opened the parchment and a single incantation was written on it.

_Ovum Obstructae_

She looked at him blankly. He cleared his throat, looking extremely uncomfortable. "Contraceptive spell." he muttered.

Leila fell of his lap, onto the floor. Her face changed colours and she spluttered, "Oh god, Moony! I-I.. I'm not-"

"You have a hickey. So it's not like you two are holding hands and _talking_. Like I said, just in case."

"Thanks." she muttered, still mortified.

Remus cleared his throat again and got up. "I'm off. See you in the evening. And Leila," he glanced at Sirius' bedroom door. "Make peace with him. He misses you so much when you aren't here."

"I know. Me too."

Leila found herself at Sirius' door after Remus left. She knocked. There was no response. She slowly opened the door and peeked in. He was sprawled on his bed, asleep. She tiptoed into the room and shut the door quietly behind her. She made her way to his bed and looked down at him.

He had come a long way from the gaunt skeleton who had escaped prison. He was filling out again, his muscles lean and his hair glossier. His face too had gained some flesh and he looked every bit the handsome, playboy from her parents old photos. The permanent five o clock shadow on his face gave him a delicious, rugged look. It was almost five minutes before Leila realized she was ogling at her godfather. Her very good looking godfather.

_'Get your fucking hormones under control, Potter. You've been behaving like a hussy the last couple of days.'_

She climbed into his bed and wrapped her arms around him and held him gently. She felt every cell in her body relax and spark up at the same time. It was a uniquely Sirius effect that happened every time they made physical contact. She stayed like that for over an hour, slowly drifting off to sleep.

A few hours later, she woke up, surrounded by a warm body and a hand rubbing slow circles on her back. She sleepily looked up to see Sirius looking down at her with a slight smile.

"Morning." he said.

"G'Morning."

They both stayed like that, quiet for a while.

"I take it you came in to apologize?"

"No. I came in to demand an apology."

"Not happening."

"Same here."

There was no anger. They were too comfortable to muster up the energy to turn it into an argument.

"When did this making-out-with-multiple boys, slutty phase kick in? Did the bloody dragon inflict some sort of head injury?

"I'm not having this conversation with you."

"Do you have any idea what boys that age think about?"

"Probably the same thing I was thinking about. I did kiss them back. I'm not a nun."

"A what?"

"Celibate women who dedicate themselves to God."

"Sounds interesting. Have you considered it? Might do you some good."

Leila got up and looked at him.

_'God I love those eyes of his...'_

"Can you live with the fact that whoever I see or whatever I do, I'm always going to be _your_ Leila first?"

"Of course you're mine. And I don't share what belongs to me."

They stared at each other. Sirius looked away, his eyes burning. He reigned in his wild thoughts and forced the godfather in him to come to the surface.

"However..." he continued, struggling to get the words out. "I can't stop you snogging the entire male population in school if that's you want to do, although I'd really rather you didn't. But, if anyone oversteps the mark and makes you uncomfortable, you need to let me know and I'll beat them senseless." He tried to come off as stern and parent-like, but he just sounded like the mental images were going to send him into another rage.

Leila just blinked at him. "Snog the entire male population? C'mon, I have standards."

"I don't want to know." snapped Sirius, turning away.

Leila hesitantly reached out and touched his jaw. He continued to look away, his adam's apple bobbling.

"Sirius, it was just... It wasn't anything serious."

Sirius snapped her head around at her, looking wary. "So, you don't like any of them? You were just being... adventurous?" He looked like he didn't know whether her being a bit of a skank was something to be happy or angry about.

"No." The word slipped out before Leila processed it.

'_No, No, No, No, NO! What am I doing? Why am I lying?'_

Sirius thought for a second then nodded slowly. "So, you're still all mine? And Remus'?" he added as an afterthought

"Yes."

"No .. boyfriends?"

"...no." '_I'm going to hell for this. I'm so sorry Cedric... But I don't want to hurt him. I will tell him, later. When he's ready. When I'm ready.'_

But the smug smile that spread across Sirius' face assuaged her guilt and she wormed her way back into his arms. Sirius held her fiercely, murmuring "Mine, mine, mine, all mine."

If either of them had chosen to listen to the soft alarm bells at the back of both their heads at that moment, they would've realized that their relationship had finally crossed some sort of line and whatever they told themselves or the world around them, deep inside they ceased to be godfather and goddaughter.

Looking back, they'd both think of this very moment as when their descent into combined madness began.

She smiled and laid her head on his chest, listening to his heart beat.

_'Perfect.'_ they both thought in unison.

Their peaceful silence was broken in a while with Sirius tensing up suddenly.

"Wait a minute... Your date to the ball was Blaise Zabini? _Zabini?_ As in old, pureblood, predominantly Sl_ytherin_ family, Zabini? Son of DARLA ZABINI?"

_'Oh crap...'  
_


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hello, my dear readers. Thank you for the lovely reviews. It makes me deliriously happy to read them and I love getting critique as well.. Helps me work on the story and my writing, so please feel free to let me know what you think, good or bad. **

**I stumbled across this piece of fanart on Fem!Harry on deviant art that's about baby Harri and Sirius. It's fabulous and I thought if you were as much as a fan of any kind of interaction between Sirius and Harry/FemHarry as I am, you'll love this too. Check it out! - art/GwL-Baby-s-First-Words-278947756 (The artist is Divine-Nataku.)  
**

* * *

'_Where the hell is everybody? It's just a couple of Grindylows!'_

Leila was panicking with every passing second. The merpeople around her were creeping her out and the sight of the four people tied up to the pole in the middle grated on every protective instinct in her body. Looking like they had been knocked out cold, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Sean Hayden and a small girl resembling Fleur were looking a bit greenish due to the water reflecting the weeds growing on the lake bed.

Leila had been the first to reach them and as seconds ticked, she found herself praying the Gillyweed would hold out. She had no idea how long her gills would stay.

Finally, she saw Cedric.

'_About bloody time.' _She watched anxiously as Cedric headed straight for Sean and struggle with the ropes.

Leila pulled out the pocket knife Sirius had given her for Christmas and swam to him, holding it out. Her boyfriend gave her a grateful look and cut his best friend free. He handed the knife back to her and gestured to her to get her hostage too.

Leila shook her head at him and indicated that she'd wait. There was no way she was leaving Hermione here by herself with crazy merpeople with spears. And the tiny Fleur look-alike was just a kid.

It was hard to tell because the bubble head charm distorted his features but Leila thought he looked incredulous. She scowled and pointed at her wrist to indicate he was running out of time and shoved against his shoulder. She saw something like exasperation flash across his face. Shaking his head, he grabbed Sean and swam away.

After what seemed like forever, Krum came, wearing an eerie shark head. He tried using the saw-like appendage to cut the ropes around Hermione and Leila freaked out. She pulled out her knife again and punched his shoulder to get his attention.

'_You slice up my best friend and I will feed your insides to the giant squid, Krum. Thank god for Sirius and his useful little gifts.'_

Krum cut Hermione loose and handed her back the knife. Then he paused, almost as if to wait for her. Leila glowered at him and gestured for him to go.

'_Get my friend up to oxygen, you idiot!'_

Minutes passed and Leila realized Fleur wasn't coming. She was sure the Gillyweed was going to give out soon and she had no idea how long Ron or the little girl had. She turned and cut them both loose. Immediately the merpeople descended on her. She grabbed her wand and pointed it at them, her anger sparking in her eyes. They backed away slowly, not fool enough to take on a crazy witch.

She grabbed both of them and started swimming back. A few minutes of hauling the dead weight of the two hostages, Leila felt her arms ache. She realized she was out of oxygen. Her gills had disappeared and her lungs were screaming in agony. She kicked harder, wishing her hands were free to help propel her upwards. She could see the light.

She broke the surface and gasped, taking in as much oxygen as she could. Ron and the girl spluttered awake, looking rather confused. Ron looked around and said, "Hullo" as if she had just run into him in the Common Room. His eyes fell on the girl and he stared at her.

"Leila? What is she doing here?"

"Fleur didn't show..." She turned to girl. "Are you okay? Oh hang.. I've got you."

The girl was struggling to stay afloat and Leila caught her and moved her behind so she could clasp her hands around her neck so that Leila could piggyback her to the shore. Ron started laughing.

"Oh no... Leila, you moron!"

"What?" she demanded, as the three of them made their way to the shore. Ron was laughing so hard that he could barely swim. Leila was struggling to hold up the girl's weight and keep a hold on Ron's arm who seemed to be determined to drown by not keeping his mouth shut as he laughed.

Leila finally made it to the shore and a hysterical Fleur descended on them, sobbing and clutching the girl. Leila just groaned and rolled on to her back on the sand, all her muscles protesting. Ron lay next to her and continued to laugh.

"What is the matter with you? Did those crazy merpeople hit you over the head?" asked Leila, partly in irritation and partly in genuine concern. Cedric's and Sean's face loomed over both of them.

"I think he's laughing at you for taking this whole thing too seriously, Potter." said Sean, looking amused. "I mean, it is just a task. Nobody would've let them get hurt. You just had to get your hostage and leave."

"B-But... Those mental merpeople! They had spears and..." she stopped. Cedric and Sean looked like they were struggling to hold in their laughter. Hermione's face too appeared overhead, as did Krum's. Only Krum didn't look amused. He wore an expression of bafflement.

As Leila caught her breath, she slowly realized Sean was right. She scowled up at them. "Easy for you to say. You have no idea how eerie it was! I couldn't have just left you there!"

Ron started laughing again while Hermione just groaned and said, "Leila, honey, I appreciate the sentiment but oh my god! That was extraordinarily stupid!"

"It vas very nice of you." said Krum, unexpectedly. Leila knew just by the doubtful way he said 'nice' he was using the most diplomatic substitute for a Bulgarian word that he couldn't quite translate to English.

Cedric plopped down next to her, smiling. "He's right." he said simply, looking at her with his eyes twinkling in a very Dumbldore-ish way.

"Oh go to hell, all of you." grumbled Leila, as embarrassment slowly sunk in. Fleur came rushing to her side and threw her arms around her and wept copiously.

"Merci! Merci Beaucoup! You saved my sister!"

Leila slowly patted her back and raised her eyebrows at the rest of them. "And you thought I was over reacting." she said, struggling to calm Fleur down as she painfully tightened her stranglehold, weeping onto her shoulder.

Cedric caught Fleur's arms and gently tugged away her from Leila, "Fleur, she can't breathe with you strangling her like that."

The little girl came to Leila, wide eyed and shy, looking at her in a way that reminded Leila of Ginny Weasley in first year. '_Oh god, no...'_

Leila was saved by Bagman's booming announcement. She tried to suppress a smile when Cedric came out on top. Cedric winked at her and Sean rolled his eyes at both of them (he knew about their secret, as did Hermione and Ron). She fell back into the sand, not really caring about the other scores till she was jerked out of her reverie by Bagman announcing that she got the second highest points for her 'moral fiber'.

Hermione and Ron stared at her, stunned. "Wow, Leila. They have a fancy term for your daft heroics."

"Huh. Take that! Laugh at me now, why don't you?" Leila said, grinning at them.

"You and Cedric are tied for the top!" exclaimed Sean, quickly doing the math. "Go Hogwarts!"

In the audience was a solitary face that nobody noticed, watching with interest. The time had come for Bhairava to return and alert the Order of the Phoenix back in his reality as to what kind of world they were going to find their reality crashing into. He had followed instructions and stayed out of sight. But he had wanted to see the Chosen One. He had wanted to see the girl who would destroy The Dark Lord and avenge the death of his entire brotherhood.

'_Remarkable.'_ he thought. He turned away, his fingers feeling the pockets of his robes for the bundle of photographs in his pocket. He had had to sneak around a lot to get them and it certainly wasn't a part of his allocated task. But he thought they might like to see their children and so he carried with him pictures of Neville Longbottom and Leila Potter, with their friends.

It was time to go home and tell their parents that their children had grown up to be phenomenal young people. His heart sank a bit as he realized he would also have to them they grew up alone, having lost their parents a long, long time ago.

'_It's strange that a horrendous curse would give them all that second chance to be a family together.'_

Leila stretched out, gazing up at the moon, the light breeze sweeping over the lake making her shiver slightly. It was a full moon night and she felt a pang of worry for Moony. She had been furious at the sight of the cage in his room for the first time during the summer holidays.

"You're not an animal, Remus!" she'd shouted at him.

"We're in the heart of the most populated city in the United Kingdom. Even if I did find a large forest nearby, it's still too dangerous." Sirius had just shaken his head at her, indicating that she let this go.

The thought of poor Remus, stuck in a cage, his screams muted by the Muffliato spell in his room, made her feel guilty about sneaking out and enjoying the serenity of the very night that was causing his physical discomfort. Sirius had confessed to her that he turned into Padfoot to keep Moony company on full moon nights. She thought of the two of them, Wolf and Dog, trapped in a room, with the ghost of a Stag between them, haunting them.

Cedric gently brushed her hair out of her eyes and smiled at her. "What are you thinking about?" She had her head in his lap, while he read through some notes for the NEWTS he'd be taking over the summer to compensate for missing them during the Triwizard Tournament.

She smiled up at him and said, "Nothing of consequence." She wondered if she'd ever be really able to tell him what actually went on in her mind.

Cedric bent down and kissed her softly. She parted her lips, allowing him entrance. Seconds later, Cedric was on top of her, their heated kiss eliciting moans and whispers of adulation. His hands slipped under her t shirt while her hands undid the fastening on his robe, allowing her to slip her hand and feel his chest.

"Leila..." he breathed, his hand coursing her abdomen, teasing the edge of her bra. Most nights, he showed enormous restraint, determined not to rush her, mindful of their age gap. She was grateful for that, particularly because when things got heated, she was the one with no restraint whatsoever. Nights like this, when he let go a bit more, she savoured it.

She carefully parted his robe, slowly peeling it off, leaving him with only his dark trousers. She pulled away from his lips and started kissing his neck lightly, trailing down to his shoulders. Cedric rested his weight on her, one arm under her, caressing her back under her shirt, the other knotted in her hair.

He finally pushed himself off her, breathing heavily, pulling his robe back on and carefully rolling her shirt back down. Leila pouted at him, half relieved and half extremely annoyed. He laughed and kissed her. "One day," he murmured, "I won't be able to stop and you'll have only yourself to blame."

Leila smiled and stretched languidly. "I look forward to it." she said lightly.

"Soon." he promised. "As soon as we can stop sneaking around. Then I can meet Mr Black and Professor Lupin and formally declare my intentions. Till then, we're going to attempt to be a bit respectful."

"What is this, the 18th century? And you want to tell Sirius and Remus what exactly? Hello, I would like to have my way with your charge and I'd like your blessings?"

Cedric rested on his stomach next to her, plying with strands of her hair. "I'd like to formally introduce myself as your boyfriend. It's the right thing to do."

"While I appreciate your nobility, it's a bit outdated."

"You've been through enough in your life. I know you're going to deny it if I ask, but if the rumours are true, you were abused by your muggle relatives and you've seen enough darkness even in Hogwarts. You deserve some stability and that includes the complete approval of your boyfriend by the two men who love you and are your guardians. They should know that you're with someone who utterly adores and respects you."

Leila thought of Sirius and could only imagine what he would do if Cedric landed up at the flat and made his 'intentions' known. She winced. "I need to tell Sirius about us." she muttered.

Cedric looked surprised. "You haven't already? Both my parents know."

"Remus knows. Sirius... not so much. He won't take it well."

"He doesn't like me?"

"No, no. It's him, not you. Sirius and I have a ... complicated relationship. I'll tell him. Soon. But I still think this is so old school. I'm not even fifteen and you're just about legally an adult."

"Well, aside from the reasons I've just told you, I may have a vested interest. I'm moving to London and getting a place of my own once I finalize my training with the Ministry. I want you to be able to stay with me every now and then, during your holidays. I can only enable that if your guardians approve of me."

Leila laughed outright. '_Sirius will gut you for even suggesting that.'_

"I'm serious."

"Very well. I will visit you, my older, smart alec boyfriend and I'll wait with thinly veiled impatience for you to come home from your important ministry job to your schoolgirl lover and regale her with tales of your day."

"Good. I can't wait. And thanks for making me sound like a perverted old man with a child bride."

"I have a thing for older men. I always had a feeling I'd get myself into an age inappropriate relationship."

"You're just a little more than two years younger. Don't make me feel like a pedophile."

"I know. But it's so much fun to see that look on your face. You are adorable when you look a bit creeped out."

"You're horrid when you're making fun of me." he said, smiling lightly as he brushed his lips over hers.

"Hang on, your parents know?"

"Yeah. My mum's excited to meet you. She even stopped reading Witch Weekly and all of Rita Skeeter's articles about you because she won't tolerate anyone saying awful things about her son's girlfriend. My dad was er... he's cool with it."

"He's not a fan, is he?"

"He quite liked you before the whole Triwizard Champion thing. He thinks you shouldn't be one and that... well..."

"That I put my name in for attention?"

"Sorry. He'll come around."

"I have to win your dad over, don't I?"

"You don't have to. He'll get over it and go back to liking you when all this blows over. To be fair, if your dad were alive, he wouldn't be my biggest fan either."

"Somehow, I doubt that."

*********_Alternate Reality*********_

James stretched, feeling very wired. He was the only one up so early. Excitement and dread mingled in his stomach. Dumbledore had let them know that Bhairava had returned and they were due to re-convene in Dumbledore's chambers later in the day. They would know now, what they were up to in the other reality, what kind of life was in store for them.

_'What if we're screwing up? What if we're all still fighting the same bloody war? Why are Sirius and Leila fighting all the time? Sirius never fights with anyone... He doesn't have the emotional quotient to muster up anger on a regular basis. Why does Leila look so miserable? Why does she look so tired? Do Lily and I have other children?'_

"Hey Mr Potter. You okay?"

James turned to the quiet voice behind him. Cedric Diggory stood there, looking exactly how James felt.

"Bhairava is back. Big day today. Guess we'll know everything."

Cedric nodded, looking like he was doing his best to reign in his emotions.

James' eyes softened at the sight of the boy in front of him. He had always had a soft spot for Cedric, right from when he'd met him when Amos joined the order, when Cedric was eleven years old. James had always enjoyed taking him out to the woods behind the manor and playing Quidditch with him, often teaming up with him against Sirius and Tonks.

When Cedric had found his parents' dead body in the destroyed house, he had sat for hours, unmoving, staring at their corpses. Only James had been able to move him, wrapping his arms around the boy, dragging him away. It was only in James' arms he had wept, thrashing and screaming for vengeance. And it was James who fought the hardest with Dumbledore when Cedric joined the Order three days later.

_"He's a child, Albus! Send him back to school! He has a year left!"_

_"He's lost his entire family, James. What would you have done?"_

_"Albus, be serious. This is war!"_

_"If we don't allow him to fight with us, he'll hunt them down alone. This is for the best. This way we can protect him. You know that if I could, I would make him go back to school. But he's a boy no more, James. Not after that." _

James got him home to Godric's Hollow after the funeral and he had stayed with them ever since. James taught him to fight, and stood in front of him in every duel, fiercely protecting him. Lily fussed over him too, ensuring he ate and slept and making him hot chocolate when he couldn't sleep at night and teaching him healing spells.

'_I promise you Amos, I'll protect your boy. I won't let him down the way I let my daughter down.'_ James would promise his dead friend every time they set out to battle.

Cedric joined him by the french windows and they continued to stare outside.

"This world will be annihilated. Just like that. It's so hard to believe, isn't it?" said Cedric.

"I think my bar on unbelievable has just gone up over the last few days. It's surreal."

"I wouldn't mind a few things being destroyed for good, to be honest. My parents' graves, for instance."

James' eyes scanned the edge of the forest till he stopped at the approximate point where his one year old daughter was buried in the small, beautiful glen. "I agree. Cedric, do you think I'm a good dad? In the other reality?"

"Probably the best, Mr P. Leila's a lucky kid."

"I'm not so sure. She looks... not right. Her eyes are so haunted, like she's seen so much. What kind of father am I if I haven't noticed that?"

"We don't know anything, Mr Potter. It could be nothing. Everyone's a bit angsty at that age..."

James exhaled. "Fourteen years old... Merlin, my counterpart better have good memories of her. I hope he's not a workaholic like the way I am now. I hope he's spent time with my baby. I'll kill him.. well, myself, if I've missed out on her childhood."

"I'm sure she's made the Quidditch team of whichever house she is in with all your training. Mark my words, Mr Potter."

"I bet you're Head Boy."

Cedric grinned. "That'll get dad's spirits up..."

Both of them grinned, feeling genuine hope swell in their chests.

"It can't be much worse than this world." said a soft voice from the doorway. Lily came in and wrapped her arms around James' waist from behind, leaning her head against his broad back.

"True that." agreed James, linking his fingers with his wife's. "Want to bet we had another kid - a little boy?"

"Three Galleons says it's another girl." commented Remus, also joining them.

"You want it to be a girl, don't you?" Remus was always supposed to be the godfather for the child they had after Leila and he had watched baby Leila and Sirius play with envy. He had always wanted a little girl.

"Yes. And I'm willing to throw in another Galleon that says you caved into all the my pressuring and named her Selene."

"No way." chimed in Sirius, also coming in. "It's a boy. And his name is Harry."

Cedric laughed at all of them. He drifted off into his own thoughts, briefly pondering the dragon that had appeared in his dreams. And the girl. His heart beat faster as he thought of the beautiful pixie-like angel who had looked up at him with those stunning green eyes and reached up for a kiss...

'_Green eyes.' _He stared at Lily Potter and slowly moved his gaze to her husband's dark hair.

'_Oh no... Mr Potter is going to kill me.'_

_*********Original Reality**********_

Hogsmeade was vibrant and cheerful, filled with students making the best of the onset of spring. Leila stumbled out of Gladrags accompanied by Hermione, carrying a small bag with socks for Dobby. She owed him big time for the Gillyweed although he considered it a task not worthy enough for 'Miss Leila' to make a fuss about. Ron met them on his way out from Zonko's. They found their way to The Three Broomsticks where Sirius and Remus had been waiting for them. They had wanted to hear all about the second task and also wanted an excuse to visit Hogsmeade.

They spotted the two of them in a distant corner, Sirius wearing a very sultry smile as he pointedly stared Rosmerta up and down. Remus looked like he wished he was sitting somewhere else. His eyes lit up when he spotted the three of them.

"Finally!" he whispered to Leila as she took the seat next to him. "I had to endure Sirius and Rosmerta's not-so-subtle innuendos for over an hour!"

"Is he getting lucky?" whispered Leila, amused at the revulsion on Remus' face.

"He wishes. She's just playing along. She's used to James and Sirius' lame attempts at hitting on her, from way back in school."

Sirius' attention completely switched to Leila the minute he realized she was sitting across from him, grinning at him. The last hour with Rosmerta just dissolved into oblivion.

Rosmerta smiled at all of them and took their orders. She gave Sirius a wink before she turned to head back to bar to get their butterbeers. Ron gawped after her.

"You have got to tell me how you get her to react like that." he told Sirius in awe.

"Watch and learn, little man." Sirius told him, grinning.

"I hope he practices." Hermione whispered to Leila and Remus. "I'd love the entertainment."

"Oi! I heard that!"

They spent the next hour laughing Leila's panic underwater and her unwarranted noble gesture.

Leila rolled her eyes at the jokes and let it slide. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up and saw Cedric smiling at her. Her blood ran cold.

'_What is he doing here? I told him I was with Sirius and Remus...'_

Sirius' smile had vanished as well and he looked at Cedric coldly. Remus however, smiled at him and said cheerfully, "Cedric! How're you?"

"Wonderful, thanks Professor Lupin."

"I'm not your teacher anymore. You don't have to call me that."

"I don't think I could possibly think of you as anything other than Professor Lupin. How are you, sir?"

"Wonderful! How's the Tournament coming along?"

"Pretty good, sir. I'm sure Leila's told you all about it! We're hoping for a Hogwarts victory."

Cedric turned to Sirius and smiled at him as well. "Mr Black, it's wonderful to see you again." Sirius just nodded crisply and said, "You too."

Ron and Hermione picked up on the tension and looked at Leila with raised eyebrows. She just shook her head at them wearily. Hermione quickly cut into the silence that was building up.

"Remus, Cedric was saying some of his classmates were having trouble with their DADA NEWTS. I'm sure they'd love to have a chat with you."

Cedric's face lit up. "Absolutely! In fact, Sean, Darius and the others from my class are at the table up front. They wanted me to ask you if they could come and say hi and catch up. We've missed you sorely this year. You were the best teacher we've had."

Lupin looked flustered and proud. "Thank you, Cedric. That's high praise. Of course I'd love to say hi to the boys. Why don't you lead the way?"

Eyes sparkling, he followed Cedric back to his table with his friends. Leila gave Hermione a grateful look. She didn't think having Cedric around Sirius any longer than necessary was a good idea.

Sirius muttered something that sounded like 'suck up'. Leila frowned at him. He scowled back at her.

"Oh bother... Here comes your super fan, Leila." Ron said.

Ludo Bagman pushed his way through the crowd and came to their table, taking Remus' seat.

"Leila, my girl! How are you? All set for Task 3?"

"We don't know what Task 3 is, yet." Leila pointed out.

"You will in two days! But I'm sure you'll sail through. What phenomenal odds, eh, you doing this well?"

"Odds have nothing to do with it." snapped Sirius. "She's brilliant, not that she ought to have been in this in the first place."

"I agree, Sirius. I'm just saying that whatever be the circumstances, she's come out on top. I hope you beat Diggory too, Leila. I'd love to see that."

"So would I." mumbled Sirius. Ron snorted into his butterbeer, earning a kick on his shins from Hermione and Leila.

Bagman looked restless. He leaned closer to Leila and said, "Er... Leila, can I talk you for a minute? Alone?"

Leila raised her eyebrows and said, "Sure." She got up and followed him out, Sirius' narrowed eyes and Ron and Hermione's bewildered expressions following them.

"What is it, Mr Bagman?"

"Are you alright?"

"What do you mean?"

"All ready for the task? Are you putting in sufficient preparatory work for it? You're the youngest... A little extra time at the library, a few new jinxes..."

"Got it covered, sir. No exams for the champions, so Classes are stress-free."

"Good. You know you can ask me if you need help, right?"

"Actually, Mr Bagman, seeing as you're a judge, that wouldn't come under ethical behaviour, would it?"

"Oh don't be like that, Leila. I'm just evening out the odds. You're the underdog... And if you could get the better of Diggory..."

"Cedric Diggory is a friend, as are Victor Krum and Fleur Delacour. And I have no interest in this Tournament. I find your bias a bit offensive."

Bagman backed away, flushing. "I didn't mean... Good Lord, Leila! Not interested in the Tournament? You can't be serious!"

"I am."

Bagman looked deeply troubled. "I don't th- Oh, Hello?"

Leila turned to find Blaise standing over her shoulder, wearing his usual smirk. "Hey Potter. Walk with me?" He held out his arm, gesturing for her to slip her arms through his. Gratefully, she acquiesced, nodding at Bagman. "I'll see you Monday night, sir. Have a good weekend." She let Zabini pull her away towards the village square, away from Bagman.

"I don't know how you popped out of nowhere, but thanks for rescuing me."

Blaise grinned evilly. "Rescue you? Come on, Potter. Do you know me at all? I saw that you had an audience so I decided to aggravate them further." He nodded to the window of the The Three Broomsticks, where Sirius, Hermione and Ron were looking through intently at her, neither looking remotely amused at the new intervention. Blaise snickered and gestured to the other window where Cedric was watching them, tight lipped.

"Arsehole." she grumbled at him. "Then again, the nosy bastards shouldn't have been spying on me through the window in the first place."

"So, how're you and Diggory? Did I aggravate him enough for him to go all caveman and snap you up?"

"Dunno what you're talking about."

"You're a terrible liar."

"You're terrible, period."

"That I am. By the way, I think I've gotten under your godfather's skin more than Diggory's. If looks could kill and if I were a cat, I'd be going through life one to nine in the last ten seconds."

Leila winced. "He found out about the Yule Ball and he's um... biased about Slytherins."

"The entire Black family is Slytherin"

"He's the exception. Don't ask, long story."

"Well, I better go. Avery and Greengrass want to go to Honeydukes and I told them I'll be along in a minute."

"Library tomorrow? I haven't seen you in ages."

"Sure, if you can untangle yourself from Diggory long enough to come. I'll sneak in some butterbeer and choclate truffles."

"Deal. Let's see how long before Madame Pince throws us out."

"The first one to get her to throw her hat at us owes the other one a Galleon's worth of Chocolate Frogs."

"It is so on."

Blaise grinned and said, "Oh, and to add more amusement to your weekend, here's a parting gift." He bent down and softly pressed his lips to her neck, before slipping his hand down down her spine to the small of her back.

Leila snapped out of her momentary shock, pushed him off her and hissed at him, "Are you mental?"

"What? Is your secret boyfriend going to hit me in public? Ha ha ha and- oh crap. Your crazy godfather is actually heading my way. Bye." And he ran off.

Leila groaned internally. She knew he'd get her back for switching his ink with the permanent, quick dry fluorescent one in Potions' class the previous week, but this was a bit of a low blow.

'_Zabini, Not cool.'_

"What the fuck was that?" hissed Sirius, storming over to her.

"Zabini was just making my life difficult because of a prank I pulled on him. Please don't give him the satisfaction and create a scene here." She dragged Sirius back inside The Three Broomsticks, wincing as she caught Cedric's glare on her way back to her table.

"What did Bagman want?" asked Ron, as they both sat down, Sirius still looking murderous.

"Offering me help. Again."

"It's a bit creepy the way he keeps doing that. Aren't judges supposed to be impartial?"

"And speaking of judges, do you think Crouch will go AWOL again?"

"Wait, what?" asked Sirius looking at them, stunned. "Crouch? AWOL? The man never takes a day off!"

Leila looked at him calculatingly. "What's the story on Crouch? You didn't seem to be fond of each other at the World Cup."

Sirius exhaled, looking grim. "Barty Crouch was the head of the Auror Department before Voldemort's downfall. He was my boss and also the man who threw me into prison without a trial."

"Oh my god." whispered Hermione softly. Leila and Ron looked at him, stricken. "How could he?"

Sirius sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Fourteen years ago, when Voldemort was taking over, it was a mess. If anyone ever tells you the Ministry had it under control and we were fighting back, don't believe them. We were getting getting killed off like flies. I would know. James and I were Aurors at the time, as was Mad Eye Moody, Frank and Alice Longbottom."_  
_

"Longbottom?" asked Leila, tensing up, heart clenching. "Neville's parents?"

Sirius gave her a strange look. "Yeah. Didn't you know?"

"He never talks about them."

Sirius' suddenly looked very old. "It's.. well.. I'll get to it. Barty Crouch took over as Head Auror and the fight from our side picked up some traction. He was a brilliant wizard, ruthless even. Some people said he was as bad as the Death Eaters. He authorized the use of the Unforgivables on Voldemort's men. And he pushed through legislation to be able to throw them into Azkaban without a trial, drastically reducing their chances of worming out of prison time. He was considered a hero and everyone thought he'd be the next Prime Minister, especially when Voldemort disappeared. I wasn't around for what happened next because I'd already been chucked into Azkaban by then."

"What happened?"

Sirius' lips twisted into a grim smile. "Barty Crouch's son was caught with a group of Death Eaters. They tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom to insanity, trying to find out where Voldemort was."

Leila pushed her glass away, feeling sick.

"What do you mean insanity?"

Sirius looked miserable. "They don't know who or what they are. They don't talk. Their mind was completely damaged from the extensive use of the Cruciatus Curse." Leila remembered Neville's horror at Moody's first class. Now she knew precisely why he had reacted that way. Hermione had her hand over her mouth, her eyes filled with tears. Ron looked devastated. "All these years... we never even asked." he whispered.

"Was it him? Crouch's son?"

"He died in Azkaban. But I have no idea if he was really involved or if he was in wrong place at the wrong time. I can imagine that happening..." his face twisted bitterly. "Barty Crouch got shunted from department after department, having fallen from grace. But he never lets up.. He's still obsessed with catching dark wizards."

"Yeah Moody said that..."

Sirius nodded grimly. "Moody and Crouch never got along. Moody always thought he was no better than the Death Eaters, doing things we shouldn't be doing, using curses we should never go near. Some of us stood by Moody and his principles, like Alice, Frank, Kingsley Shacklebolt, your Dad and I. But some of the other Aurors did unspeakable things."

Leila stayed silent. It was one of those moments where she felt everything around her pin point into a single moment. The world fell like it was falling away and everything that was going wrong seemed to leap out at her. She knew something was wrong. Sybill Trelawney's prediction haunted her.

She could feel it in her bones. Lord Voldemort was rising.

Cedric and Leila stumbled out of the broom closet on the ground floor, dusting their clothes down, trying and failing to remedy the disheveled look they had managed to acquire after spending close to an hour, their lips glued to each others'.

"We're late." said Leila, hastily running her fingers through her hair. "Still got five minutes." rasped Cedric. They had barely managed to get near the front door when Cedric grabbed her again and pulled her to the side, behind the tapestry, kissing her hard again. He tugged at her shirt and pulled it over her head, liberally running his hand over her flimsily covered breasts, making her moan into his mouth. She pushed her hips against hers, feeling his hardened length press back against her. His self control had slipped after Zabini's stunt by the Three Broomsticks. After snapping angrily at her for an hour, the heated make up session at the empty Quidditch stadium ended up with both of them reaching out to newer levels in the physical department. Now they couldn't keep their hands of each other and Cedric seemed to struggle with the urge to slip his fingers under her skirt or bra and feel her bare skin.

"Three minutes..." said Leila, pulling away. "Cedric, we have to go."

"Fine! But we're going by the lake after the meeting with Bagman."

"Done deal."

But the events that followed didn't allow for it, starting with Krum isolating her to talk to her alone, leaving a very annoyed Cedric to go on to the castle with Fleur and Bagman. Krum had wanted Leila to sneak in a present he'd gotten for Hermione into her book bag as a surprise. That was the point where Barty Crouch made his sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance.

Leila could feel in her bones. The air was churning uncomfortably. She spent all her time holed up in the library, arming herself with new curses and spells, Moody's recommendation that she become an Auror sounding progressively more appealing. She worked around Hermione and Ron's free time, an inexplicable feeling in her reaching for her friends, as if she might never see them again. She snuck out to meet Cedric at night and they held each other, her heart uneasy, afraid for him for reasons she couldn't explain even to herself.

A storm was coming.

On the morning of the task, Leila sat with Remus, Sirius, Mrs Weasley and Bill at the Gryffindor table, watching them look around and reminisce, feeling strangely melancholy.

"Leila?" a soft voice called to her. She looked up and found herself looking into to kind, warm face of Cecilia Diggory.

"Mrs Diggory?" Leila hesitantly held out her hand. Cecilia smiled and side stepped her outstretched hand, pulling her into a warm embrace.

"Oh it's lovely to finally meet you, Leila! Cedric talks about you so much and I couldn't wait to see you!"

Leila blushed. "Likewise, Mrs Diggory." She gestured to her family, "I'm sure you already know Molly and Bill Weasley. Meet my guardian and mentor, Remus Lupin, former DADA professor at Hogwarts."

Cecilia smiled at him and shook his hand. "Please, call me Cecilia. Cedric loved your classes. He says he's going to clear his NEWTS only because of you."

Remus smiled at her. "Thank you, Cecilia."

"And this is my godfather, Sirius Black." Leila said, watching for her reaction. Her warmth towards Remus had already lessened her apprehensions. Cecilia didn't disappoint. She smiled widely at Sirius too and shook his hand.

'_Nothing like her husband, is she?' _mused Leila. Cedric, standing behind his mother, winked at her. Amos Diggory frowned at Leila. "Good luck." He said in a clipped tone. His frowned deepened at the sight of Remus.

Leila decided right then that she couldn't be bothered pandering to this man, even for Cedric's sake.

"Thank you." she said coolly.

Cedric seemed to have sensed danger because he quickly led his father away. Cecilia hung back and looked at Remus and Sirius a bit pleadingly, "He's… Well, he's alone in his attitude towards Leila. Please don't mind him. Cedric and I have tried our best but... He just needs time."

Sirius looked like he was going to say that he did mind very much but thankfully Remus cut in and assured her that it was fine.

"You will come home this summer, won't you Leila? Cedric won't be able to stay that long without seeing you…"

Sirius' eyes narrowed to slits. He stared hard at Leila as if to say 'What is she talking about?' Remus looked at him nervously and Leila tried to work out what to say to Cecilia without tipping off Sirius. Thankfully, it was Molly who saved the moment by saying, "Of course! Leila's at the Burrow often and she'll be able to come by as often as she likes!"

_'Oh lord, thanks Mrs Weasley.'_

Cecilia smiled and wished Leila once more before walking away.

Leila exhaled and slumped down on her seat next to Bill, glad that Sirius was seated three people away. Bill smiled at her and handed her another toast.

"You really need to eat." he admonished.

"Thanks." she said, watching him spread butter and marmalade on it before placing it on her plate again.

Draco Malfoy chose to drop by at that moment. His smirk tipped Leila off and she sighed. Malfoy's smile faltered at the sight of the Weasleys, Sirius and Remus but clearly whatever he wanted to taunt her about was too good to let a thing like potentially scary family get in the way.

"How're you feeling, Potter? Not going to go mental and kill the other champions are you?"

"Malfoy, the only thing that was forgivable about you was the tiny iota of wit you possessed. If you're not even going to make sense, I have no interest in wasting any time verbally sparring with you. Push off."

Malfoy's smile widened. He tossed her a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet. "Happy reading, Potter. And do try to live through this. The maze is covered and I won't be treated to the happy sight of you getting eaten up by something. I'd rather you died someplace where I get the visuals."

"This, coming from the idiot who almost became a Hippogriff's lunch? Don't you have an exam to get to? Or has Daddy dearest already paid off the examiners?"

He looked like he wanted to retaliate but he caught sight of Sirius' expression and quickly headed off.

Leila opened the paper and Remus came to sit on her other side while Sirius stood behind her. They scanned Skeeter's article in silence. Bill and Remus swore under their breath while Molly ranted in fury.

Sirius looked surprisingly calm. He looked at Leila and said thoughtfully, "I like this article of you the best. She makes you out to be a femme fatale. It's better than the ones where she makes you look like a harlot."


	12. Chapter 12

Cedric cautiously looked into the living room and found James sitting there, his eyes glazed and his face gaunt. He hesitated, wondering how he could comfort him.

Bhairava had recounted what he had learnt in the other universe. Their hopes and their playful betting this morning seemed like a cruel parody after he was done. The entire order had gotten up and dispersed, unable to say anything to one another. Voldemort had been gone for thirteen years in the other reality. And the price some of them had had paid was outrageous. The possibility of a fairy tale had died as the monk recounted his story.

'_What could you possibly say to someone under such circumstances?'_ he wondered despairingly, growing worried at the sight of his mentor just sitting there, looking like a knife had been stuck deep into his heart and twisted.

Unable to help, he turned away and found himself face to face with Lily. Her face was tear streaked and pale. Cedric froze, trying to work out what he should do. She gave him a watery smile and slowly cupped his cheek. "Head Boy and Triwizard Champion. Amos and Cecilia must be bursting with joy."

He swallowed hard. "She's a Champion too. And she's got the highest score, better than me."

Lily closed her eyes, tears spilling out. Cedric hesitantly held her face between his hands, despairing.

"Mrs Potter... "

She opened her eyes again and he looked into her green eyes. He knew those eyes well. He saw it in his dreams every night as he held the girl in his arms, caressing her, kissing her. He swallowed and turned away. Now that he knew so much more about her, he felt dazed thinking that he was with her in the other reality. Bhairava hadn't said anything but he _knew_. She was his. And soon she would be in his arms for real. He wondered if his parents knew.

Lily peeked behind Cedric, anxiously. "Is he...?"

"He hasn't moved from there in the last four hours."

Lily sighed deeply.

"Go to him." urged Cedric. She nodded and slowly went up to her husband. She hesitantly paced a hand on his shoulder. He stared at her, not really seeing.

"James..." He stared on, unseeing. "James, look at me... "

He lifted his hands slowly and caught her arms. He pulled her down to his lap and held her. Slow, heart wrenching sobs shook his body and she held him, her own tears mingling with his. Parts of Bhairava's tale flashed in their heads.

_"... James and Lily died that night... You Know Who turned his wand on Leila, but it backfired... He was gone..."_

_"... She was raised by Lily's sister Petunia... Rumour has it that she was abused... a terrible childhood... Apparently, she lived in a cupboard, starved regularly, beaten up by her cousin and his friends... not a pretty story and best not to dwell on it now... She seems okay... Better than okay, but one does wonder if deep down..."_

_"... Sirius was framed... He went to Azkaban, for Pettigrew's murder. Crouch's crazy rules were in place, so he had no trial. He was in Azkaban for twelve years before he broke out... No one seems to know how on earth he managed it..."_

_"... over a decade of peace... It's ruined the Ministry... softened them up... Cornelius Fudge is Minister for Magic...I have no idea how that incompetent, bumbling idiot became Minister..."_

_"... Leila's been in trouble since she put her foot back in the magical world. The Dark Lord's first attempt at getting back to power in a decade... Hogwarts teacher Quirrell... She stopped him! 11 years old and she gave him the finger and stopped him! That must've made him mad...Yes, Snape's alive... He's the Potions Master... Why are you laughing? No, of course I'm not joking! Ask your kids... He has it out for Leila and Neville. Between the two of them, they're permanently in detention because of him.. I have no idea why he's having it out for Neville.. Did you do something, Frank?..."_

_"... quite a trio.. her, a muggleborn named Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley... She gets along with that Slytherin boy too, Blaise Zabini... I wouldn't say that to her if I were you... She's not as anal about this inter-house divide as you are.. I mean, she doesn't get along with the Slytherins, especially Malfoy but she's not as mad about it as you.."_

_"... Chamber of Secrets... She's Parseltongue.. What do you mean how? How would I know? You must have some Slytherin blood somewhere in the Potter family bloodline... Basilisk...Gryffindor's sword... Hero, again. That girl is something else... twelve years old and she kills a Basilisk and gets even with some mad curse the Dark Lord put on a diary... I guess you could ask her what the Chamber looks like.. She and Voldemort are probably the only ones to have put their foot in their since Salazar Slytherin himself... Exciting life no?... I don't know what your niece was thinking, Gideon... Don't be mean.. she's a kid... And they haven't had war for a decade, so of course they're lax..." _

_"...Sirius escaped... Dementors hunted him... Remus taught that year, DADA... I guess Dumbledore wanted him to protect Leila... Why? Well, because everyone thought Sirius had escaped Azkaban to murder her... DON'T SHOUT AT ME! I KNOW YOU'RE NOT A TRAITOR! I'm just telling you what they thought... They caught him though.. Pettigrew was Ron Weasley's pet... I know, it is terrifying.. So close to her all those years... We're lucky he didn't have the courage to kill her... But then again, why would he? Nothing to gain with the Dark Lord out of power..."_

_"... She goes back to the muggles for a few days in a year... I don't know why... Ask Dumbledore, I mean the other one... She lives with Remus and Sirius in London for most of the summer and other holidays... I told you there's a happy ending... Well, I mean tough luck for Leila though.. Sirius is unstable... What d'you mean there's no way Sirius can be unstable? The man spent twelve years with only Dementors for company... He's okay most of the time but Leila sets him off... he's a bit obsessive and possessive... They fight constantly.. Well, she's a bit of a damaged soul too.. What do you want me to say, James? She is damaged. The girl grew up in a cupboard, abused and her entire existence in the wizarding world has been underlined by a constant need to be a warrior, battling Voldemort, Dragons, crazy things in the Forbidden forest... Yeah, that is a good question, Kingsley... What the hell are you doing in the other reality, Albus? How is that girl in constant trouble inspite of you watching over her?... A child shouldn't be exposed to all this... The fact that she's beaten them is beside the point, Tonks... Bloody martyr, that one... I've lost track of the number of times she's thrown herself in harm's way and I only know the public stories... I'm sure there's tonnes more that Dumbledore's hushed up..."_

_"... Trouble's stirring.. World Cup.. No one's seen the Dark Mark in years...Of course they've gone soft... Pettigrew escaped didn't he?... Triwizard Torunament... Yes I know... It makes no sense why they'd think she would've put her name in it... How could she have possibly hoodwinked the Cup? I KNOW! I'm not the one accusing your daughter of being an attention seeking prat so stop yelling at me, Lily... Just telling you what's going on...Apparently, Moody put her under the Imperius.. Okay, stop trying to hex him now... He was just teaching them... She threw it off at the first go... No, I'm not making it up.. It was big news in school.. Neville, the poor chap... Nobody wants to see how your parents lost their minds... But he's getting stronger.. Just needs some time away from Augusta.. she smothers him and makes him feel terrible about himself.. woman needs to relax... Yeah, that's where she got her obsession with the Hungarian Horntail... She flies better than you, James... You got the Chinese Fireball, Cedric... I think she went to the ball with Zabini.. Oh for the love of- stop shouting James... I'm sure they're just friends and they didn't mean anything with all the kissing... I didn't say kissing... I didn't say anything... Please take this up with your daughter when you see her and leave me out of this..."_

She was alone. She had grown up alone, ill treated and miserable and the minute she had entered their world, she carried its weight on her shoulders. Poor Sirius, thrown into Azkaban for something her never did, forced to escape to prove his innocence. The worst case scenarios they had imagined didn't even come close to the truth.

James stroked Lily's hair, murmuring sweet nothings and desperately proclaiming his love for her in her ears, his lips pressing against her pale skin... They were dead, buried together, decaying... His Lily, his only love, his fiery, beautiful companion who he had been in love with from the very minute he hit puberty, was dead, alongside him, cold and empty.

"..._Go out with me, Evans!..."_

_"... Not on your life, Potter..."_

_"... It's the seventh year... Our last year... Please, Evans... A pity date... I'm begging you..."_

_"... Alright..."_

_"... I promise to not to prank anyone for a month if you.. Hang on, did you say yes?!..."_

_"... See you at The Three Broomsticks at 11 tomorrow..."_

_"... Are you serious?..."_

_"... No, that'd be me..."_

_"... Shut up, Padfoot! She said yes!..."_

_".. Did you confund her?..."_

_"... We tried that last year, Moony... I'm not fool enough to do it again... She said yes of her own accord... I DID NOT USE A LOVE POTION,_ _PETE!_..._I__ think she kind of likes me! ... I told you I'd wear her down!..._"

_"... Marry me..."_

_"... Are you sure? You can't call me 'Evans' anymore then..."_

_"... That's okay, I'll think of something else, Lilykins..."_

_"... I will hex your balls off if you call me that..."_

_"... you need my balls to have children, Lilykins..."_

_"... Leila..."_

_"... Lilykins, What kind of name is Leila? ..."_

_"... I like it... It's beautiful, just like her..."_

_"... You're supposed to be on my side, Padfoot... We're not calling her Leila..."_

_"... I like it too. It's gorgeous. Very maiden of the night..."_

_"... Thanks for putting it that way, Moony. Now we're definitely not calling my daughter that. How about Bubbles? It's adorable... I don't care... We'll worry about it when she grows up... Of course she won't hate it!... She doesn't need a social life, she has me. And you guys... "_

_"... So Leila it is!..."_

_"... Does anyone care what I think? She is MY daughter! Hello? HELLO? WE'RE CALLING HER BUBBLES! BUBBLES POTTER! Because she looks like little bubbles mushed together!... "_

Lily wept on his shoulder, feeling like a shrapnel in her heart was tearing away at her. James and Lily found themselves being pulled into a pair of strong arms that were shaking badly. Sirius wrapped his arms around both of them, and buried his head in Lily's shoulder, fighting back tears. Remus held all three of them, looking as old as his counterpart.

They held each another tightly and grieved for everybody they had already lost, the ones they would lose, the ones they would get back and the terrible weight of the oncoming final battle pressing against them.

Frank lay in bed, eyes wide open. He tried to imagine it - not having your mind under control, being completely insane... Unable to hold your son when he came to see you at the hospital.

He shut his eyes and shook the thought away. He would have to deal with being a half crazy person when they recombined and the thought made him despondent.

'_I will fight the void. For Neville and mum, I'd do that. He deserves his parents and she deserves her son. I will not allow the cruelty of having them lose us twice.'_

He desperately wanted to hold Alice but she wasn't in bed with him. He knew where she'd be. He got up and wandered down the halls till he reached the room. Alice was sitting and stroking a sleeping Natasha's hair, looking far more peaceful than he felt. He sat by her and watched his daughter too. She was just eight years old and he had no idea how he was going to explain all of this to her.

"Al, what if we can't keep it together?" he voiced his worst fears to his wife, softly, not wanting to wake Natasha up.

"We will, I promise you. She has a brother and a grandmother now. I can't wait to tell her."

Frank looked at his wife and smiled softly. This was why he'd fallen in love with her. No matter what went wrong, she'd see the light at the end of the tunnel, constantly preoccupied by it. He pulled her into his arms and they stayed that way for a long time, letting hope grow in their hearts.

Gideon stared into the fire, nursing his drink. He had considered it a given that Fabian and him had survived in the other reality. But like Frank and Alice, they had been cruelly destroyed after Voldemort's fall by his crazy, angry followers. He would never see Fabian again. He slowly thumbed the picture that Bhairava had given him. It was one of Leila with half the Weasley siblings. Ron and Ginny had their arms around her, grinning while Fred and George held the trio in front of them, smiling widely, wickedly. Gideon smiled softly as he looked at the twins in particular. They were just like him and Fab. Molly must be going mad.

He would never be able to recover from losing his twin, but his sister, Arthur and all his nephews and niece were alive and well. It finally felt like Fabian's sacrifice in this world was worth it.

Sturgis stood alone by the window, staring out at the view of muggle Bristol from his window. Jane was asleep in their bed, oblivious to his agony. He turned to look at her, his heart breaking. This world would vapourize into oblivion and so would his muggle wife. She would disappear like everything else non-magical. She would be there of course, in the other world. Bhairava had assured him that they were happy and content there. He was glad. In this reality, Jane hadn't seen much of anything outside of the house in the last two decades. Sturgis kept her barricaded in the house, under constant security. He was one of the people who publicly defied Voldemort and his muggle wife was a constant target. He thought of the other Jane, happy and in the sun. It was what she deserved. His heart broke at the thought that _his_ Jane could never have that, that she would just vanish.

_'What gives men like the Dark Lord the authority to play with people's lives like that?' _he wondered bitterly, hating Voldemort even more than before, something he had never thought could be possible.

Alastor polished his wand, his mind whirring. He was so tired. He honestly wanted it all to stop. He was tired of being constantly vigilant. He would never admit it to anybody else but the over the last few years, he'd started to come to the conclusion they were losing. But now...

He thumbed the photograph that Bhairava had given him. He had sneakily taken it from behind the hedges on the grounds. It was one of him and Potter's kid. He looked like he was saying something and she was nodding, looking thoughtful. He looked at the girl with a slight frown. She was quite a pretty young thing, not a very warrior-like persona. But Moody had been around long enough to spot fighting spirit in unexpected people. The way she seemed to hold herself, her eyes... This was a battle hardened one.

Alastor strongly believed everyone should know how to fight, especially in times like this. But he felt disgust well up at the world when he looked at the Potter girl. What kind of miserable existence dropped off its load onto a kid's shoulders and left her to fight for them? It was so _wrong_.

'_Things are going to change when the realities combine. For one, I'm not letting the adults fall slack and pass their problems on to a child. Poor James... He thought letting Cedric fight was wrong. His kid's been fighting for something or the other her whole life... Half the order has never even seen Voldemort let alone battle with him. This kid has done it thrice...'_ He promised himself he would protect her and do the best he could. Leila Potter was the only one Moody ever thought needed some coddling because by Odin, she deserved it.

Tonks stood by her mother's room door, watching her sleep. Andromeda hardly slept anymore, not after Ted's murder. Bellatrix had been particularly vicious. Tonks had dropped her training for the Muggle Artefact's department and signed up for the Auror department the very next day. Sirius had begged his niece to go back to Muggle Artefacts, promising to avenge her father for her but Tonks would hear none of it. Sirius had turned to Andromeda in despair but Andromeda had imperiously held her hand up to stop him and said, "She will fight alongside you. It's what she wants. If she wants to take Bella's head off for what she did to her father, I am completely behind her. I'm only sorry I can't join her and sign up too."

But in private, Andromeda had held Sirius' hand, struggling with tears and begged. "Please watch out for her, Siri. I can't lose her too."

Sirius trained Tonks on the side and Moody took a liking to her as well and took her under his wing. It didn't look like she'd fare well, at first. Fighting was not in Tonks' nature. But clumsiness aside, she was growing to be quite an asset and Moody inducted her, much to Sirius' mingled dismay and pride. In due time, Dumbledore got her into the Order too. It had surprised them all to learn that she was training to be an Auror in the other reality, even with Ted alive and well and Voldemort gone.

She had playfully bumped her shoulders against Sirius' and said, "You were wrong. I was going to be an Auror, one way or another. Here's the proof!" to which Moody muttered that standards must be _really_ low in the other world. He had to duck to avoid her hex, making Bhairava snort with laughter.

"How long do we have?" Dumbledore asked Bhairava.

"Soon. Be ready. If you have muggle friends or families, best to say goodbye now. It could happen any minute. I have to go back to my brothers. We need to hide away, because Voldemort will come looking for us in the other reality. You won't see me again. Good luck... We've been given a second chance. Let's put an end to this, once and for all."

*******_Original Reality*****_

Leila could see the cup ahead of her. She froze in her tracks. She was the first one there. Her heart in her mouth, she slowly walked towards it.

'_Where are you, Ced?'_

She had rescued him from Krum's Cruciatus and both of them, still shaken, had found Fleur, unconscious. After sending off the sparks to alert the patrolling authorities outside the maze, they had split up again, terribly uneasy.

Now she stood alone, feeling terror seize her. Cedric was supposed to be here. He should've won. She heard footsteps coming from one of the tunnels on the other side and he emerged. Her relief was palpable, but short lived. The Acromantela scuttled over them, and for a split second, Leila was glad Ron wasn't here. This one was bigger than all of Aragog's children. Leila pushed Cedric down, out of the way and after a brief, fierce array of curses, the spider crashed down, half its body collapsing on her leg.

"I hate it when you do that!" roared Cedric, pulling her from the wreckage. "Why can't you ever let me help?"

Leila groaned, allowing Cedric to help her up, his arms tight around her, supporting her. Her right leg was slashed, with blood dripping steadily down.

She gestured to the cup. "Go, get it. Please let's get out of here."

Cedric, however, didn't budge.

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"It's yours. You rightfully won it."

"Are you insane? Just pick up the fucking thing. I want to go up and celebrate your victory."

Cedric shook his head. Leila cursed his Hufflepuff sense of nobility and justice.

"You know I never wanted it. Please, Cedric."

He seemed to think about it and then said, "Together."

"You mean...?"

"A Hogwarts victory. You and me, together."

Leila sighed. She knew he wouldn't budge on this. "Okay."

Cedric smiled softly and pressed his forehead against hers. "I'm calling dibbs on getting to tell our children this story."

"Our... children?"

"I love you, Leila."

The maze, the dead giant spider and the cup faded from her vision as she stared up at him.

She hesitated for a moment and then said, "I'm calling dibbs on their names."

"Is that your way of saying you love me too?"

They kissed fiercely, tasting, feeling, pressed tight against each other.

"Let's get out of here so we can celebrate properly." he said huskily.

"Best thing I've heard all year."

Arms still wrapped around each other, they grasped either handle of the cup.

The two Hogwarts Champions disappeared, unknown to anybody outside the maze.

Leila blinked in shock at the graveyard they found themselves in. "What the... A portkey? Are you kidding me? Wasn't the maze stressful enough?"

She untangled herself from Cedric and slowly hobbled around, trying to get a grip on what was going on.

"Where are we?" wondered Cedric.

Leila glanced at the grave the were standing on and her blood ran cold.

_Thomas Riddle _

_1905-1943_

"Oh god... Ohgodohgodohgod..." she whispered, horror rooting her to the spot.

"Leila, love? What's wrong?"

Her brain snapped to action and a single thought possessed her. '_Get Cedric out of here, NOW!'_

She grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the cup. "We have to leave." she said urgently. "Now!"

"What's-"

A solitary figure, cloaked and carrying a bundle, stepped out from the shadows. Leila's scar exploded with pain. With a cry, she fell to her knees, clutching her forehead. Cedric fell to his knees as well, holding her.

"Leila, what's going on? What happened?"

"Cedric, Go! Now! Take the cup and go!" she begged, struggling to speak through the excruciating pain.

"_Avada Kedavra._"

Leila's eyes snapped open. Cedric's arms had gone slack around her and his body slumped over her.

'_No... NO!'_

She held his now dead body to him, her heart going numb and her head exploding with pain.

Another blast of light wrenched her body from his, slamming her against Tom Riddle Sr's gravestone and ropes manifested out of the thin air, binding her tightly to the stone. She was gagged too, not that she had anything to say. Her fear, her bafflement and her agony from the scar had all coalesced to an insignificance point by the emptiness that overtook her. Cedric was dead.

The cloaked figure approached her and took off his hood. She wasn't the least bit surprised to see that it was Wormtail. He summoned a cauldron, already full of simmering liquid and he began to chant a long incantation. Leila watched in horror as dust from Tom Riddle's grave shot up from the ground and went into the cauldron. She turned her face away when Wormtail cut his own arm off and dropped it in. She could feel him advancing on her and she felt his knife impale her arm, drawing blood. The cauldron turned starry white on the addition of her blood. Leila knew, her nightmares were about to turn into reality. She knew what was in the bundle. She had seen it murdering Frank Bryce. But nothing could've prepared her for seeing it in reality, so close by. She was glad she was gagged, her scream muffled.

The hideous baby was dropped into the cauldron. Leila dimly registered the sky around them had charged up. Lightening flashed around them, almost caging them in. She could hear screams in the distance and the oddest feeling settled on her, like something massive was being pressed against them.

The cauldron fizzed and smoked and from the haze, a high, terrifying voice said, "Robe me."

Lord Voldemort stepped out into her line of sight, tall, thin, ghostly pale, with the face of a serpent and the eyes of glowing embers.

Leila's head felt like it was tearing apart. Voldemort examined his fingers, then reached for his wand inside his robe. He smiled and pointed it at her.

"_Crucio._"

She thought she might die with the pain. Combined with the agony from the scar, Leila knew she'd never live through this. It seemed to go on for hours till finally, she felt him lift the curse.

He laughed, a high, clear, nightmare inducing sound.

Like a gleeful child, he pointed his wand at her again and said, "_Crucio, Crucio, Crucio!_"

'_Oh God... Make it stop... Make it stop!'_

Finally, he stopped and slowly made his way to her.

"Leila Potter. How wonderful of you to join me for my re-birthing ceremony."

Leila looked at him, her eyes glazed over in pain.

He smiled and said, "Thank you for your contribution, darling. Now, I have your protection. Your blood flows in me. Now, I can _touch_ you."

He raised a single, long finger and pressed it against her forehead on her scar.

The sky seemed to explode at that precise second. The archway at the Department of Mysteries, now minus the veil, developed cracks and splintered, till it finally smashed to the ground, crumbling.

The world fell apart.


	13. Chapter 13

Sirius clutched his head and fell to his knees, pain searing through his skull. Next to him, Remus did the same. The entire stadium was dotted with many of the students mirroring them.

"What the hell is going on?" gasped Ron, looking around in alarm. Neville and Ginny stared back, ashen faced and confused. Their eyes fell on Hermione, who had her head between her hands.

"No.. No... Mum, Dad?... No No NO!"

"Herm!" Ron grabbed and her pulled her into his arms. The twins made their way to them, looking shocked. "What the hell is going on?"

"Oh god... Dumbledore's out of it too!" said George in horror, pointing to where the staff sat. Professor Flitwick, McGonagall and Dumbeldore were holding their heads too, their faces screwed up in agony. Snape had stood up, staring at them in shock.

That's when Ron's eyes fell on two more figures next to Sirius and Remus. He stopped breathing. He knew who they were, having sat with Leila as she thumbed through the photo album Hagrid had given her.

James and Lily Potter had grabbed hold of their friends and pulled them up, their eyes wide as they took in the sight around them, dragging them back to the castle.

'_What the fuck?'_

The screams began and chaos descended. _  
_The next couple of hours was something nobody would forget.

The part of the Order that had materialized in Hogwarts, with the exception of Dumbledore and McGonagall who stayed outside to attempt controlling the situation, ran back into the castle.

Gideon, James and Lily held up Remus and Sirius who were still whimpering from pain and the confusion as both their realities jumbled in their head.

They could hear the hysterical screaming from the stadium.

"So this is what the end of the world looks like..." murmured Lily.

A solitary figure stepped out from the shadows. Cedric Diggory walked towards them, his scarred face utterly calm.

James nodded at him in relief then suddenly frowned. He looked at Sirius and Remus, still in a mess, then looked at Cedric, who looked too composed.

"Cedric...?"

The boy shook his head, his face grim. "I'm dead. I don't know what's happening but I think I died before the realities combined. I still have my own body and none of the other one's memories. I've died in this world. I know it."

They all swiveled their heads back to the stadium. Slowly it dawned on them. "The Third Task..." whispered Lily.

"Leila... Leila is in there... Get her out, GET HER OUT!" yelled Sirius, finally looking up, his eyes wild with panic. James gasped at the sight of him.

Staring back at him, was a shadow of his friend. His Sirius Black had ceased to exist. The amalgamation of the two worlds' Sirius Black would've been considered an improvement by Leila and her friends but to James and the others standing around, the change was devastating. Sirius' eyes were haunted, his body thinner, his face more angular. He radiated darkness and carried the air of suppressed rage.

His wild, gray eyes fell on James and Lily and he froze. His face twisted, as the two set of memories warred inside of him.

"James..." he croaked, reaching out to his friend. "James, you bastard... You died.. You died... Oh Merlin... You died... you felt so cold... and Lily... you wouldn't wake up.. I begged you... but you- oh Morgana... Leila.. we buried her, didn't we? But she was crying in the crib, that scar... " He collapsed in James' arms and started to weep, horrifying memories of both realities crashing over him. Remus was shaking in Lily's arms as he clutched her to him, his own horrible memories washing over him.

They all stared down at the two of them in distress. The screams from the stadium were getting louder.

"There's an entire world out there that's getting mentally fucked. And if this is the state of two people who know what's going on... By Hades, everyone's losing their mind." said Gideon, grimly.

In the DADA office, a man locked away inside a trunk opened his eyes. His mind was struggling to understand what was going on. But Alastor Moody wasn't the best Auror for nothing. A few long minutes later, as his mind settled, a singe word ran across his mind. "_Impostor._"

Leila thought he had used the Cruciatus Curse on her, again. But through the haze of otherworldly pain, she realized it was emanating from inside her own head. She struggled to keep her eyes open and had she been in any state to process what she was seeing, the sight in front of her would've astounded her. Lord Voldemort had collapsed to the ground, holding his head, screaming in agony.

And then she started screaming, her gag holding them in, forcing her to swallow her own screams.

Voldemort was inside her head. She could hear his every thought, his rage, his confusion.

She saw everything he saw. And as slow understanding settled on him, a set of very precise memories slowly played out. And comprehension washed over both of them.

_Gaea Diatromi._ The Universe was righting itself. And Leila understood, just as Voldemort did, what the hell was going on. Even through her befuddled brain, Leila's shock was so profound, it jolted her back to reality.

'_Oh my god... What have you done, you crazy mother fucker?'_

Minutes stretched out, the silence interrupted by only Wormtail's confused whimpering.

Voldemort finally looked up at her, and as he regained complete control over himself, his mind receded from hers, cutting off her access into his head.

He pointed his wand at her and her ropes fell off and as did her gag. She fell to the ground, on top of Cedric's body. She stayed there, breathing in the residual, comforting scent of the boy she had loved, struggling to recompose herself, the pain, grief and the mind blowing realization of what Voldemort had done, all slamming into her consciousness.

Her wand was tossed in front of her. She picked it up and pulled herself up to her feet, meeting Voldemort's gaze. Her forgotten leg injury made itself know and she struggled to stay upright.

"So, it was all for naught." whispered Voldemort dangerously. "We meet again, in a single plane of reality, with no line of defense between us."

Leila started laughing. She laughed hysterically. "You bastard. Are you that afraid of me? You wrecked havoc on the entire Universe to ensure victory over _me? You pathetic coward._"

Voldemort roared in fury, "Crucio!" Leila bit down her screams, her pride overwhelming the pain.

She gasped as he lifted the curse, bent over clutching her wand and he screamed, "I AM LORD VOLDEMORT! I FEAR NOTHING."

"You," she whispered, looking up, "are a miserable, frightened little boy. Even if I die tonight, I've still won. Look at what you've done, out of fear over a _child_. Was it worth it, Tom? Was it worth selling your soul to that magic? Was it worth spilling cursed blood? Those monks aren't like the terrified victims you go after normally. They're a powerful sect, belonging to Death himself. You're a marked man, Tom. I'm the least of your worries."

"Shut up!" He hit her with the Cruciatus again. She laughed when he lifted the curse.

He glowered at her. "You and me, Potter. I'm not afraid of you. You and me, we finish this tonight. Pick up your wand and fight me."

She held out her wand, knowing this was a lost cause. She wasn't going to win a duel against the homicidal maniac. But the least she could do was go down fighting.

'_For Cedric.' _

_"_Crucio." Voldemort effortlessly dodged out her way. Leila was numbly surprised to see that she was even able to cast an Unforgivable. But the rage that had been been building up since Cedric's body collapsed over her was enabling her to do a lot more than she ever could've before.

Voldemort slashed his wand, and Leila ducked, her bad leg almost holding her back.

They both looked up and at the precise same second, they both shouted "Avada Kedavra!"

The identical green lights met midair and what happened next stunned both the dueling opponents.

The green strip of light connecting the wands morphed into a bright, white one and Leila heard soft music that she had heard before. A Phoenix song.

Voldemort screamed in confusion, the song seeming to mess with his head. But it had the contrary effect on Leila. Her head cleared, her rage subsided and all she could think of was that she had to get back. Cedric deserved to be home with his parents, not be left out here with the Dark Lord and only her dead body to accompany him. She had to get him home so people who loved him could say goodbye properly.

Keeping the connection steady, she edged towards Cedric's body. She then snapped her wand up, breaking the stream of light, threw herself down onto Cedric, pointed her wand at the cup and said, "Accio."

Voldemort's howl of rage resonated long after his nemesis vanished with the boy's body.

Leila struggled to open her eyes. Her body felt heavy. She was trying to work out what was going on and why on earth her heart felt ripped to pieces.

Slowly her memories came back to her tears welled up behind her closed eyes.

'_Oh god... Let me die right now. Please, for the love of all that's holy, just let me fade to oblivion.'_

"Leila?" a soft familiar voice sounded in her ears.

'_Just fuck off, whoever you are. Just let me fucking die.'_

"Leila, please open your eyes. Please. We're so worried."

She slowly forced her eyelids to open, her tears blurring the faces looking up at her anxiously. She blinked back her tears and saw Ron, Bill and Remus looking down at her, their faces pale and relieved. She noticed that Remus looked different. His hair was almost entirely light brown, with hardly any streaks of grey. She slowly looked around. She was at the Hospital Wing.

"How long have I been out?" she asked, her throat tight and scratchy.

"Two days."

"You look worse than how I feel. Tough 48 hours?"

Remus and Bill exchanged a look. "You have no idea."

"Want to bet on that?"

Madame Promfrey bustled in. Leila didn't miss the way she looked at her. Amazement and concern.

"How are you feeling?"

"Peachy."

"We couldn't wake you, your body has signs of injuries inflicted by dark magic..."

"That about sounds right. Where's Dumbledore? I need to have a chat with him."

"You're in no state to-"

"Poppy, I think the sooner she knows, the better." Dumbledore had swept in, looking at her in a way she had never seen him do so before.

He reached her bedside, and gently sat down at the edge, looking at her like she was some sort of heaven sent miracle. He hesitantly reached out and touched her cheek.

"It's strange, I've known you for years now but a part of me..." he sighed and withdrew his hand and looked at her sadly. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you awake."

She didn't respond, just looked at him tiredly.

"Leila, what happened?"

"The cup was a portkey. It took us to a graveyard, specifically where Tom Riddle Senior is buried." The sound of the name made Bill, Ron and Dumbledore stiffen.

"Who?" asked Remus blankly.

"Voldemort's father."

"_What?_"

"He's back. He took my blood to recreate his body."

Dumbledore's eyes widened. "That explains it..."

"The reversal of the Gaea Diatromi? Yeah, it does."

Dumbledore and Remus jumped up in shock."Leila, how do you know about that?"

"Voldemort was in my head. Accidentally, I think. When his alter egos recombined, he lost control and the connection between us opened up and I spent a good hour at the least in the amusement park that was his mind. By the way, I'd track down a specific set of monks in the Himalayas who belong to the Shivite order of Natraja and ask them to hide."

Dumbledore stared at her in utter shock. "This is unexpected. And disturbing." he exhaled. Leila just looked at him poker faced. She hadn't felt a single emotion barring the onset of grief when she had first woken up. She felt detached now, almost like a third person was inhabiting her body.

A warm hand clasped her shoulder. Remus looked down at her, tears in his eyes. "Leila, if you know about the curse, then you must know that when the realities combined, those of us who survived both, combined to become a single entity."

"Like you? I thought as much. You look... better. Younger. More your age."

Remus smiled wanly. He pulled her into his embrace. "You have no idea what it's like to have you here... I buried you as a baby... I also buried your parents in this world... It's so jumbled..."

Leila froze in his arms. "Your buried my parents in _this_ world?"

Remus pulled back, his eyes wide. "I-We meant to break it to you slower..."

Leila felt all the strings holding her to her body seemingly cut off. She felt like she was floating away, watching the scene from above, in a third person perspective when Remus said, "James and Lily... They didn't die in the other Universe. T-They're here now."

"Oh." Leila's mind was blank. Then it did exactly what it always did, reverting to deeply ingrained instinct from her hell of a childhood with the Dursleys. She took the information that was going to cause an emotional overload and send her to a mental collapse, tucked it away in a distant compartment in her brain and moved on.

She looked at Bill and Ron blankly. "So, how are you two dealing with your split personality disorder?"

The four of them stared at her. Remus exchanged an alarmed look with Dumbledore and said slowly, "Leila, darling, did you hear what I just said?"

"Yes. How're the two of you holding up?"

Bill gawped at her in shock. Ron, however, looked at her in resignation and said, "Not much to hold up, really. The entire Weasley clan was murdered around the time mum was pregnant with Ginny. So... We've been spared the mental invasion from our potential alter egos."

"I'm not sure whether to be happy or sad for you."

"Yeah, we're a bit conflicted too." said Bill, finally, realizing what Ron had. Leila was having her own psychological breakdown in the privacy of her own mind and there was no point pushing her to react to something she was clearly not wanting to face at the moment. "Our Uncle Gideon is back, though. Mum, Dad and him are having an emotional reunion. They're still weeping. He wouldn't let Ron and I go either but we really wanted to be here by your bedside when you woke up."

Leila nodded. Then she looked at Remus carefully. "Sirius?"

Remus took a deep breath. "He's alright. Bit of a mess though. The other Sirius... well, Azkaban for twelve years does irreparable damage. He's better that what he used to be for you but worse than what we've seen in the other reality."

Leila nodded again. Dumbledore looked pained. "Leila, you're taking this well. A little t_oo_ well."

Lila didn't say anything. Then she frowned. "Who turned the cup to a portkey?"

"Alastor Moody."

"_What?_"

"It was Barty Crouch Junior, actually. It was never Mad Eye. He was an impostor the whole time. The real Mad Eye stopped him when he was trying to sneak into the Hospital Wing to kill you."

"All this time? It was never Moody?"

"I'm afraid not."

"But he said I'd make a good Auror. I've been taking career advice from a Death Eater?"

Dumbledore looked afraid for her sanity. "You think that's the biggest problem here?"

Leila squeezed her eyes shut and said "Do you have a sleeping pill magical equivalent? Because I think my brain is going to explode from the information overload and I've had enough of that sensation. Voldemort kept doing the same thing and it's very unpleasant."

Madame Promfrey, who had been keeping a respectful distance, immediately came forward, with a bottle of Dreamless Sleep Potion.

"Leila, wait..." began Remus, thoroughly alarmed at her nonsensical statements but Dumbledore shook his head at him. He realized that Leila was deeply traumatized and her external calm was beginning to crack. She was retreating to the safety of her head. And as horrified as Dumbledore was as well, he knew it was best to let her process everything at her own speed.

Leila shut her eyes, her ears ringing with what she had just heard. She drifted off to sleep, struggling to keep her pain, confusion and bewilderment at bay.

She woke up briefly sometime later to find Cedric staring down at her in _awe_. He didn't look the same; he had a scar running down his face. But the Potion was still heavy in her blood stream and she didn't register the difference.

She blearily lifted her hand and ran a single finger along his scar and said softly, "He hurt you... I'm so sorry... I tried to protect you... Will you forgive me?"

He looked at her in wonder. He caught her hand and hesitated before kissing her fingers softly. "Hush, beautiful. Go back to sleep. You're safe now."

Leila smiled vaguely. "I love you." Cedric's lips froze and his grip on her fingers tightened reflexively at her words. Leila groggily wondered why he looked so stunned seeing as he knew that already.

Her mind, falsely lulled to happiness at seeing him safe and by her side, still clogged with the effects of the Potion, drifted back to sleep.

Leila woke up again, this time encased in someone's arms. She blinked heavily, breathing in a scent she knew so well. Leather, musk and whiskey. _Sirius._

She looked up, heavy lidded and saw his sleeping face. He looked exhausted but peaceful His body against hers felt slightly different, fuller, more muscular. She sighed and burrowed herself back into his arms, her blood still soaked in the potion and drifted back to sleep, her face pressed tight against his chest, her arms around him.

Sirius hadn't been able to sleep a wink, holding on desperately to James and Lily. They'd tried their best to settle him down, comfort him but he was too wrecked. They were growing alarmed at the sight of their constantly laughing, cheerful friend having a complete meltdown.

Only Remus knew what would help him. He took Sirius's arm, Lily and James following them in confusion. He led him to the Hospital Wing, to Leila's bed. Sirius didn't say a word. He kicked off his boots, climbed into the bed next to Leila who was sleeping peacefully, wrapped his arms around her, his nose in her hair, breathing in her scent and had fallen asleep instantly.

James and Lily slowly went around to the other side of the bed. They had been forbidden to go near Leila till she mentally accepted what was going on so as to not send her spiraling. They both stared down at their sleeping daughter for the first time, snuggled in Sirius's arms. Hands trembling, Lily reached out and brushed her hair out her face, revealing her lightning shaped scar. With a shaking finger, she gently traced the bolt shaped scar. James's own shaking hand joined hers, their fingers interlaced as they lightly traced the contours of Leila's face. Lily shuddered and fell limply against James, who wrapped his free arms around her and held her upright. They both stared at the pair in bed, Sirius with his arms tight around Leila, hear head tucked under his chin, his legs curled around hers.

A distant childhood memory of an illustrated muggle fairy tale book was evoked in Lily's mind.

Two abandoned children, a disappearing trail of bread crumbs unable to lead them back home, fast asleep in each other's arms, their peaceful slumbering a sharp contrast to the terrifying forest around them, filled with hungry beasts and menacing darkness.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Phew. That last chapter did feel a bit overwhelming. To all my wonderful reviewers, thank you so much for all your kindness :) And yes, steffiii07, that was a reference to Hansel and Gretel! It didn't strike me till after I had posted it that there was a witch involved in that story. I guess a proper parallel to Voldemort then, if the Dark Lord was prone to living in a house made of candy and treats :D **

**Also, I'm one of those people who write with music in the background and it often helps set the mood, even alter the chapter a bit because of it. **

**So, I thought I'd start mentioning what the most influential track was for each chapter and if you're the kind who listens to music when you read, it might be fun. But then again, seeing as my taste in music is a bit wonky, do skip right ahead and ignore this if you think it's safer to do so. For what it's worth, the song I had on when starting this one was 'Car Crashes' by Standfast. **

**Cheers and have a lovely long weekend! :) And do review! I can't tell you how lovely it is to get feedback!**

Leila woke up properly a day later, her eyes struggling to adjust to the semi darkness. A weak light filtered through the curtained windows and she could hear birds chirping away. The Hospital Wing around her was completely empty, save for the person in her bed.

She felt odd, like everything inside her had been scooped out. It was a strange kind of hollowness, akin to an empty house. Her mind already buzzed with thoughts but it seemed like the rest of her body felt nothing. She carefully lifted Sirius' arm and slid out from his grasp, without waking him. She sat up and looked around. She slowly stood up. Her legs were shaking and her head spun. She grabbed the bedside table to steady herself. She felt lightheaded and weak.

She felt _dirty. _

_'A shower. I need a shower.'_

Her vague disconnected thoughts seemed to have taken over her motor functions and she found herself slowly walking out and going into the corridor. Her bare feet picked up on the chill and her flimsy hospital gown did nothing to protect her from the pervading early morning cold. As if on auto drive mode, she went up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

She stared at the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was looking at her worriedly.

"Sundance." she said simply. The Fat Lady hesitated then swung the door open. She climbed in and registered that the tower felt empty. She knew that no one was in.

A parallel thought process in her brain wondered where everyone was. She went up to her dorm and looked around. All the beds were empty and all the trunks, save hers, were gone. She puzzled over where Hermione was. She went to her trunk and started sifting through her clothes till she reached a specific set of muggle clothing that she hardly ever wore. She pulled out a simple, black dress that fell to her knees.

'_Funeral wear.'_ her mind whispered, approvingly.

She went into the shower and turned on the taps to the highest temperatures possible. She stood under the scalding water, waiting. Surely, the hot water would wash away the numbness? Surely, it would wash away the feeling of being dirty and violated from having Voldemort in her head? Surely, it would melt the steel walls surrounding her heart at the moment?

She stood for a long time, till the water turned cold. As cold as her insides. She stepped out and looked at herself in the mirror. Her long, wet hair hung to her waist, her ribs protruded and bruises dotted her body. The bags under her eyes had disappeared from the long, undisturbed sleep due to the potion but her eyes were dead. It was like looking at an opaque green glass, reflecting nothing. Her cheekbones were stark and a bruise adorned her right cheek. Her lips were surprisingly red but she realized it was because she had been coughing up blood in the shower. She supposed she still had some internal injuries that hadn't healed.

She pulled on her dress and stepped out. The dress was too light to protect her from the cold but she didn't bother looking for a sweater. She was relieved to be able to feel the cold, to feel anything at all. She sat for a long time, allowing her mind to run. Finally, a single predominant thought took hold of her and her legs paid attention to the command her brain issued. She stood up, then swayed dangerously. She quickly sat down again. She was starving. She ruffled through her trunk again till she happened upon a large bar of Dairy Milk. She wondered how it got there. She hardly bought muggle chocolate anymore.

She opened it and took a bite. She felt the sugar immediately work its magic. She got up and started walking, slowly nibbling the chocolate. She wondered where to go then decided she should probably start at the Hospital Wing. It seemed like the most logical place to go looking.

Sirius slowly woke up, blinking away sleep. His eyes met a gaggle of people staring at him worriedly. He slowly sat up and stared back at them. Lily, James, Remus, Dumbledore, Cedric, Arthur and Bill looked at him tersely. Sirius frowned for a moment then suddenly realized he was the only one in bed. His head snapped up.

"Leila?" he croaked, his voice struggling to make it's way out of his larynx.

Lily shook her head, looking stressed. "We thought you'd know. We came here to check on you two but she wasn't here."

Sirius stumbled out of bed, swaying dangerously. James caught hold of him, quickly. Sirius blinked up at him and his throat constricted.

_'Prongs is here... Prongs isn't dead...'_

James' eyes softened, as if he knew what Sirius was thinking. "We're all here and together, Padfoot. It's okay."

Sirius swallowed and nodded. "Find Leila. She shouldn't be alone."

"I'm here." came a very soft voice from the Hospital Wing entrance. Leila stared at them impassively. She was wearing a black dress, her hair was wet and she was barefoot. She nibbled on a piece of chocolate.

"Leila! Where'd you go?" demanded Sirius in relief as he strode up to her and pulled her into his arms. She didn't return his hug. She just pulled away and looked on with the same inexpressive expression. Sirius felt fear take hold of him.

"Honey? Talk to me." he pleaded.

"Where's Cedric?"

Everyone turned to stare at Cedric, who looked startled. Leila looked at him too but her face registered nothing.

"Right here, Leila. He's here." said Dumbledore cautiously.

Leila shook her head slowly. "I mean _my_ Cedric. Voldemort murdered him. I tried getting his body back. I couldn't leave him there with _him_. Did I get him back?"

The silence that followed was thick. Remus walked up to her and pulled her into his arms. "Yes." he said brokenly. "Yes, you did."

"I want to say goodbye." her voice was muffled, pressed up against him.

"Amos and Cecilia have him. They wanted his final resting place to be at home, in their property."

Leila just looked at him uncomprehending. Dumbledore cleared his throat, understanding her unspoken question.

"They wanted it to be a low key goodbye, Leila. Cedric isn't strictly gone. He's here... It's... confusing."

He gestured to Cedric standing by the window, looking apprehensive.

Leila frowned a bit. "But _my_ Cedric is dead. He deserves a proper goodbye, doesn't he?"

All of them stared at each other, not knowing what to say to that. Leila slowly realized that they didn't understand or even if they did, they didn't seem to feel the same way about it as she did. She felt a hot flush of anger but the numb wall reclaimed the emotion, emptying her again.

"I want to say goodbye." she said in the same detached tone.

Remus' grip on her tightened. It was Bill who spoke up. "Yes." He couldn't bear to see her like this anymore.

They all stared at him. He took a deep breath and said, "Ron's been waiting to see you. Why don't we go to the Burrow? You look starved. Mum's got some Treacle Tart waiting and the Diggorys' live close by. I can take you to see Cedric now. Is that okay?"

Leila nodded. "Thank you."

"No, wait..." began James, stepping forward towards her, panic overwhelming him. He didn't want her out of his sight. Leila's eyes widened and she stepped back. James froze.

"Leila, your Dad... Please, honey. Just stay with him and your mum for a while. They need you." pleaded Sirius. "We'll go see Cedric soon, just not now."

But she continued to back away, staring at James and Lily with clear panic and utter incomprehension. Bill quickly interceded, stepping in front of James, trying not to get angry. '_Are you insane, Sirius? She's having a complete meltdown and you want her to hang out with her parents who have been dead to her all her life?'_

Dumbledore seemed to be in agreement with Bill's train of thought. He spoke up, "Let her go say goodbye. Lily and James will be right here when she gets back."

Bill walked up to Leila, took her hand and led her away. Leila started breathing properly as they walked further away from the Hospital Wing. Bill hesitated near the Entrance Hall. Then he bent down and indicated she get on his back. She stared at him in confusion. He nodded at her bare feet. "Hop on. No point in getting your feet all caked with mud. We'll stop at the Burrow and get you a pair of Ginny's shoes and go to the Diggorys'."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and he carried her to Hogmeade where he could use the fireplace at The Three Broomsticks to floo them both.

Molly sat at the kitchen table holding Gideon's hand.

"The kids... They're so grown up." he said in awe.

Molly laughed. "The twins are worse than you and Fab."

"Ha! Just wait till I put a few ideas in their heads. Then you'll really have to be worried!"

The fireplace lit up and Leila Potter tumbled out. Molly jumped up and immediately pulled her into a warm embrace. Leila vaguely patter her on her back, still not entirely in control of her limbs.

"Leila, this is my brother Gideon. Gid, Leila is an honorary Weasley."

Gideon smiled at her and held out his hand. "I've heard loads about you, Leila. My nephews and Ginny talk about you non stop." _'As did Bhairava...'_

Leila looked at him, shook his hand and said, "You're from... there?"

He nodded. "I am."

Leila nodded slowly. "Hi, then. Welcome?"

Gideon laughed. "Thank you, love. You look starved. Have you eaten?" She shook her head.

Molly appeared on cue with a piece of pie and a glass of milk. Leila sat and ate in silence, listening to Gideon and Molly talk, occasionally answering in monosyllables when they asked her a question.

Bill came down and handed her a pair of black ballet flats. She put them on and stood up. Bill nodded at his mother and Uncle. They raised their eyebrows.

"Leila wants to see Cedric." he said simply. They looked confused for a second before their eyes widened in understanding.

They elected to walk the three miles to the Diggorys'. Bill let the silence stay. He knew she was in no mood to talk. They knocked on the door on reaching and a haggard Amos opened the door. Leila braced herself for anger, fury and even for him to slam the door on her face. She certainly deserved it. But he did none of that. His eyes softened and he smiled sadly at her. He stepped aside and let her in. She walked in, not really noticing anything inside the house. Cecilia looked up and her eyes widened. She stood up and walked hesitantly to Leila. Bill quietly stated that if she needed anything, he'd be in the other room.

Cecilia held Leila's hand and looked at her with concern, mingled with grief. Leila said hesitantly, "Can I see him?"

"Of course." said Cecilia, her eyes bright with unshed tears.

Cecilia guided her to the large backyard and led her to a large cherry tree. It was in full bloom. A single column of light, gray stone was under it.

_Cedric Diggory_

_1977 - 1995_

_Loving Son, Devoted Friend_

_Champion of Hearts_

The dam broke and Leila fell to her knees, shaking.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry... I love you much... I'll rescind the dibbs on the names of our children... Just come back to me..." she whispered, pleading, her hands clenched around the loose soil of his grave.

Cecilia wrapped her arms around her as she wept. Leila waited, a sudden flare of anger blossoming in her, mixing with the grief, for her to point out that Cedric _had_ been returned to them, to insinuate that the Cedric from the other reality was _her Cedric._ But Cecilia did no such thing. She wept along with Leila and it dawned on her as to why she and Amos had allowed her in without hostility.

She was the only one who could completely grieve for _their_ Cedric. Even they couldn't because in a sense, their son was with them, not dead. In the horrible, twisted conundrum that they found themselves in, they couldn't grieve for their dead son without harbouring a confused guilt and unease over mourning for him when he was alive and well. Leila realized that Cecilia and Amos had desperately wanted someone to bid him farewell properly on their behalf, a wholehearted proxy. Leila turned and held the mother of the boy she loved, allowing her to cry in her arms, as it would be the only place she could. The two of them stayed like that, well after the sun had set, trying to gather what was left of their heart to move on and try to love the strangers who had reappeared in their lives, expecting to be loved like the people they had replaced.

Bill held her hand the entire walk back. Ron and Ginny were waiting for her when they reached. Neither sibling said a word. They both silently herded her upstairs to Ron's room. They pulled the bed covers aside and let her slip in. They stayed on either side and held her.

Finally, she said, "What happened? Tell me everything."

"All hell's broken loose." said Ginny quietly. "Nobody has a clue as to what's going on. The Ministry has completely fallen. All the Ministries around the world have crumbled."

Leila went still. "Voldemort's back."

Ron and Ginny flinched. "Yeah, pretty bad time for government structures to crumble. But Dumbledore reckons that his followers are in disarray too. Some of the prominent ones from the other reality are in Azkaban over here, so it helps us a bit."

"Unless Azkaban falls too." said Leila, flatly.

"The Order of the Phoenix has already assumed control via a few trusted ministry officials."

"What Ministry? You just said establishments have fallen."

They stayed silent.

"Nobody knows." said Ron. "I think we're just operating on the assumed level footing that if we're in a state of anarchy, then so is the other side. It'll buy us some time. Even You Know Who will be disoriented, he's been out of the game for a decade in this reality."

They stayed silent. Leila couldn't help thinking that all of them were leaning heavily on a lot of assumptions.

"Where's Hermione?" asked Leila.

"She's gone home." said Ron, looking disturbed. "Her parents were killed by a few fellow classmates, Death Eaters' kids probably, in the other reality. So... She was a wreck. She needed to be with her parents."

Leila closed her eyes, trying to process the information.

"Speaking of parents..." began Ron, looking at Leila carefully. "Have you-" He broke off as she blanched at his words.

It was a clear indication to Ron and Ginny that the topic was not open for discussion.

Ginny leaned her head into Leila's shoulder and said hesitantly, "Leila? I'm sorry... about Cedric."

Leila leaned her head against Ginny's, riding out the pain that swelled up in her, crashing over the wall of numbness before receding and leaving with nothing but the physical pain from her injuries.

Leila stayed awake long after Ron and Ginny had fallen asleep, every compartment in her brain thrown wide open, her thoughts whirring.

She quietly got up, without waking either of the, as soon as the first rays of light filtered into the room. She went down to the kitchen and found Gideon sitting there, staring at a cup in front of him with a faraway look. He looked up and smiled kindly at her.

"Morning, love." he said gently. "Did you get any sleep?"

Leila gave a small shrug. Gideon seemed to understand. "Me neither."

They both stared at each other, Gideon's heart going out to the still, pale girl in front of him.

"I was thinking of heading to Hogwarts. Merlin knows, they could use all hands on deck right now. Would you like to come with me?"

Leila didn't want to go. But the sun was rising, the birds were chirping and the soft, golden warmth of day filtered into the Burrow. The normal, beautiful summer morning in the cozy Weasley kitchen made her feel disoriented. She felt wrong and out of place standing there.

They both floo'd back to McGonagall's office. The turbulent turning in the fireplace made her cough violently as soon as she stumbled out of the fireplace, crashing onto the carpet on her knees.

A pair of hands pulled her up. McGonagall's voice sounded softly in her ear. "Leila? Are you oka-"

McGonagall broke off, sucking in a horrified breath. Her eyes had fallen to where Leila was staring, at her hands. She had coughed up blood, the dark red spots stark against her pale hands.

McGonagall and Gideon were saying something and they sounded frantic. But it all seemed far away to her. She continued to stare at the blood. Cedric didn't bleed. He'd just dropped dead. She thought she hadn't bled either. Did the Cruciatus curse make people bleed? It felt more like burning alive while being dipped into a frozen lake.

Leila was startled out of her pondering by someone picking her up. She blinked and looked around. Gideon had lifted her into his arms and was striding somewhere. McGonagall was saying something that sounded like "... internal injuries... she's not alright.. still in shock!.. How could they have let her leave the Hospital Wing..."

"Put me down, please." said Leila, her voice so soft that only Gideon heard. He stopped and looked at her in concern. "Almost at the wing, love."

"I want to go to my dorm."

"Not now. Let Madam Promfrey have a look at you first."

"I won't be long. I'll come right down." promised Leila, still looking rather faraway. "Please?"

Gideon hesitated. He stared at her. He knew that look. He'd lived it, when Fabian had died. Sighing, he put her down. "Alright. But can I come with you and escort you back?"

McGonagall began protesting but Gideon held up his hand to stop her, his eyes still on Leila.

She nodded.

Gideon murmured to McGonagall, "Get Dumbledore to the Hospital Wing, please."

Leila went up to her dorm, leaving Gideon standing in the common room. She found her small duffel bag and neatly folded in her muggle clothes. She grabbed a quick shower and changed into another dress with pockets where she could keep her wand.

She came down and nodded at Gideon. He raised his eyebrows at the bag but seemed to decide against asking questions. "Can I carry that for you?"

She shook her head and they both set off.

Madam Promfrey was waiting for her and quickly ushered her to a bed at the end of the wing. Leila sat gingerly at the edge, looking around vaguely. Gideon was struggling not to panic. The look of complete detachment was starting to alarm him.

Before Madam Promfrey could speak, Dumbledore strode in, looking worried, followed by McGonagall, Remus, Sirius, James and Lily.

Dumbledore took one look at Leila and stopped. He knew instantly that it may not be prudent to have James and Lily in the room. He turned to them but caught their aghast expression at the sight of their daughter looking like _that_. It would be impossible to get them to leave and heartless too. All four of them hadn't slept a wink, pacing and almost setting out to the Burrow multiple times in the night in search of her.

Leila solved Dumbledore's quandary by quietly saying, "Professor? Could I speak to you, alone?"

Nobody moved. Dumbledore turned to them and gave them an apologetic look. Remus and Lily nodded and stepped back, looking more worried than stung.

But James and Sirius stayed put.

"Leila?" ventured Sirius softly.

Leila took a deep breath and said, "Siri, please." The way she said it made his shoulders slump. He would've fought her on any other occasion but not when she looked like that, small and not really mentally there. He took James' arm and pulled him away. They filed out quietly, glancing over their shoulder in hungry despair.

Dumbledore sat next to her and stared out of the window she was looking outside of. A thousand questions aran through his mind and his concern was making it difficult for him to hold his tongue, but he waited for her to look at him. She didn't.

Her eyes still trained to the trees on the grounds, she said, "When were you going to tell me about the prophecy?"

'_Oh.' _He suddenly wished he wasn't alone with her.

"You saw that, when you were in Voldemort's mind?"

"Yes."

"You should know then, the full prophecy never reached his ears. There's more. I didn't want you to know yet because I was ... I couldn't let you carry that responsibility yet."

"I see. Perhaps now is the time?"

Dumbledore winced at the way she spoke - a soft monotone, like she wasn't really there. "I'm afraid so." he agreed. "In a few days, when things settle down..."

"My wand did something funny."

"What do you mean?" asked Dumbledore, startled by her sudden change of conversation.

"The wands connected when we threw a curse at each other at the same time. The lights turned bright and there was a Phoenix song. It saved me, helped clear my mind."

Dumbledore exhaled, suddenly looking like his old, collected self. "Of course... your wands are brothers. They share the same core."

"Oh. Olivander said so, when I bought it."

"He wrote to me as soon as you left the shop. It's a powerful wand, Leila. As is Voldemort's. Incidentally, you've met the Phoenix who supplied the cores."

Realization flickered across her face. "Fawkes." It wasn't a question.

"Indeed."

Leila sighed. She bit her lip and she seemed to be thinking about something. "What is it?" he coaxed gently.

The words rushed out, "I cast the killing curse. And the Cruciatus. I-It didn't hit him but... I cast it."

Dumbledore had gone very still at her words, his heart breaking. "You couldn't have cast it properly... Those curses can't be done unless you really mean them and-"

"I meant it. It was cast perfectly. Sorry."

They stayed in silence, Leila lost in her own thoughts.

She finally turned to look at Dumbledore and felt the a ripple of shock under her numbness. A tear was running down his cheek. "Professor?"

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you and Cedric."

Leila started to speak but a violent cough stopped her. Blood spluttered on her hands. Dumbledore started.

"Poppy?" he called, tersely.

She came in, looking irritated that Dumbledore had taken up so much time with her patient. She saw the blood on her hands and frowned.

"How long have you been coughing up blood?"

"Since I woke up yesterday."

"Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere. He used the Cruciatus a lot." Dumbledore's eyes hardened at his words.

Poppy paled. "Damages from Unforgivables can't be fixed with magic. It'll have to heal on its own. Perhaps a pain numbing potion...?"

"No." said Leila quietly. She felt numb enough already. The physical pain was the only thing keeping her tethered to reality.

"Leila, please-"

"I said no." Her tone brooked no room for arguments.

Dumbledore sighed in defeat.

She spoke up again. "I'm going home for a few days."

Dumbledore looked pleasantly surprised. "That's a good idea. Sirius and Remus have been tearing their hair out in worry. It'll do you good."

"I meant _hom_e._"_

Dumbledore looked taken aback.

"I can't deal with anything connected to magic right now. I want a time out to... fix things."

"Fix what?" he asked quietly.

"I don't feel right. It's all broken inside." she said, swallowing hard, trying to will some _feeling_ to surface.

Dumbledore held her hand and pressed it gently between his own. "All the more reason you shouldn't go back to the Dursleys."

"I know what to expect there. Please?"

Dumbledore understood exactly what he meant but he wasn't looking forward to telling the four people standing outside the Hospital Wing.

"Alright. Take the floo from Professor McGonagall's office to London. You'll need to take the train from Paddington, don't you? I'll ask Gideon to drop you till Surrey."

"No. I really don't want company and everyone has better things to do with everything going on. And nobody is going to attack me. Voldemort was in no state to rally his troops and I suspect the Death Eaters are as messed up as everyone else right now."

Dumbledore nodded but he'd already made up his mind to ask Gideon to follow her till Surrey and keep an eye on her.

He got up and she stood with him. She took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him." Dumbledore gripped her shoulder and said quietly. "It's not your job to do that."

"You mean not yet." she said.

He let go of her and shuddered slightly at the emptiness on her face. He nodded at the corridor leading to the left of the wing, a few beds down from hers. "There's a hidden door there that leads you to a set of staircases that cuts through two landings. You should be able to get to the Transfiguration corridor easily using that. You won't be able to leave through the main door with Sirius, Remus and your-" he caught himself before he said the word 'parents'. He had a feeling that would push her over the edge. "I'll buy you some time. Go."


	15. Chapter 15

Just as she had predicted, the neat, ordered suburban set up calmed Leila down, the familiarity of the scene in front of her allowing her to breathe easily for the first time in days.

She knocked on the door and Dudley opened it. He gawked at her before saying, "Aren't we supposed to pick you up, as per usual, next week?"

She shrugged and walked in, closing the door behind her. Her Aunt and Uncle started at the sight of her but much to Leila's astonishment, didn't say a word. Clearly, Sirius' visit last summer had rattled them. The knowledge that their niece was the only thing standing between them and an angry ex-convict wizard, was forcing them to be as civilized as they could manage.

Leila couldn't care at any rate. She was at her breaking point and all her instincts were propelling her to her safe place. There was only one place in the entire world where she dropped her mask and allowed every emotion to wash over her. She slowly approahed the stairs. But instead of climbing up, she turned left and went to the small door under it. She opened it and looked inside, It was smaller than she remembered it. She went inside and shut the door, letting the darkness take over. She slowly slid down and pulled her knees up to her chin, and cried without restraint.

She stayed in the cupboard under the stairs for three whole days, alarming even the Dursleys. She only emerged, red eyed, to grab a fruit and water or to use the bathroom or shower.

Finally, deciding that something was terribly wrong and not wanting to be around when their niece finally cracked, the Dursleys packed up and left for a holiday to Barcelona, hoping she would be gone by the time they got back Monday afternoon.

As the weekend approached, Leila came out of the cupboard less often. She didn't want to go to London and she certainly didn't want to deal with anybody.

'_I could stay... I could stay here for as long as I like. They can't make me come. A few more days...'_

'_Coward.'_

It's what she'd called Voldemort too. '_Maybe we are kind of alike.'_

Saturday morning dawned and Leila had made up her mind to never, ever leave the cupboard. The Dursleys never used it anyway. She could just stay here all her life.

The emotional stress exacerbated her physical injuries, making the pain excruciating. She knew she had to get up at some point. She wandered the house, reveling in the peace and the lack of Dursleys. The sun was shining brightly and everything appeared to be ridiculously _yellow _to her eyes.

'_Maybe today, I'll go to my other hidey hole before my eyesight totally fails from the constant darkness. Besides, even moping fares well with some variety.'_

She went out to the park five streets away and sat on the broken swing. It was the same one Snuffles found her by two years ago.

A strange tingling feeling at the back of her neck made her sit up straight. Someone was nearby, watching her. She scanned her periphery quickly till she spotted a flash of red behind a tree. Keeping her hand tightly wrapped around the wand in her pockets, she called out. "Come out! I know you're out there! Don't make me curse you!"

Bill Weasley stuck his head around the tree with a sheepish smile. She slowly relaxed her grip on the wand but didn't let go.

"Jumpy, aren't you?" he said conversationally as he strolled up to her.

"Didn't your common sense tell you that sneaking up on someone after they've faced off with Voldemort was going to be met by edginess? You're lucky I didn't start hurling hexes right away."

Bill looked apologetic. "I wasn't trying to sneak around. I was actually here to meet you in a civilized fashion and escort you to London. But you were looking very thoughtful and I though I'd wait it out."

Leila quirked an eyebrow at him. "I see you're being punished for your mutiny at the Hospital Wing that day by being assigned with babysitting me."

"Well, I wouldn't call it punishment. I was more than happy to oblige. And yes, Dumbledore thought that I would be the one you react least badly to, at the moment."

Leila smiled slightly. "He's right, I guess. I never did say thank you for that."

"Not at all. Speaking of bad reactions, your godfather and fa-James have put a price on my head for that. And they're less than happy I got to come here instead of them today. So if you feel like returning the favour, please go back and put them on a leash or something."

"Like that'll work. You have my sympathies. Maybe you should lock yourself up in the pyramids when you return to Egypt."

"I quit."

"Why?"

"I'm required here, what with the Dark Lord's return and ... well, everything else. Don't even get me started on the disaster that the magic world has become over the last week."

She nodded glumly. "Too bad. Egypt sounds lovely. I always wanted to travel, go someplace far away and never, ever come back."

Bill smiled at her. "Maybe, someday. But for now, do you think you're up for a trip to London?"

Leila squeezed her eyes shut. "Can I feign travel fatigue and stay here for a few more days? I can't, not right now."

Bill believed her. She looked drawn, pale and a mess. While it was still a marked improvement from the state she had been in a week ago, it was still a worrying sight.

And he also knew what kind of welcome awaited her. Sirius had been raging all week, James and Lily took her disappearance rather personally and were miserable and anxious while Remus was worried and more than just a little upset that she had run off to her crazy muggle family instead of him. Something told Bill that her newly reinstated emotional stability was hanging by a thread and being forced to interact with her not-dead-anymore-parents would send her spiraling again.

To add to that, the Order was waiting to meet the famous Girl Who Lived, already prepping for battle and everyone was running amok; it was a struggle to keep prominent Death Eaters in public life at bay while trying to reassemble a government and all of it eventually pointed back to Leila Potter, one way or another. Dumbledore was doing his best to shield her and keep her name out of it but it was clear she was already being laid out as either the symbol of hope or scapegoat by the anti and pro Voldemort camps respectively.

And Cedric Diggory had been asking after her, repeatedly.

Bill did not envy her.

'_Unless... I buy her more time.'_

As he looked at her, his resolve strengthened. She could use the rest and atleast physically recover before she dealt with anybody.

"I may have a solution." Bill stated. "Staying here is out of the question. But you could stay at the Burrow. Security has been maxed up, Mum will be delighted to feed and fuss non stop and the twins, Ron and Ginny have been worrying themselves to death about you and they're itching to ply you with all the gossip they've gleaned from sneaking around and eavesdropping on the Order members. Does that sound like something you could deal with?"

Leila looked up hopefully. She could use the chatter, the laughter and the warmth (and the news) and the Weasleys knew her well enough to know better than to try and unload her emotional baggage by making her 'talk' about it, instead choosing to wait till she was ready to confide, if at all.

"If it's not an inconvenience, then yes." she said, smiling properly for the first time, even if it was a bit faint.

Bill grinned at her. "It's settled then! Lets go get your bag and leave!"

As they both walked back to the Dursleys' Leila gave him a sidelong look, "This is going to get you into a lot of trouble, isn't it?"

"Well, they say the good die young..."

Leila snorted at his joke but her mind inadvertently flashed to Cedric. Good, young and dead. The small wisp of humour vanished.

Just as Bill had promised, Molly fussed and put way too much food on her plate. The Weasley siblings, as she had expected, didn't ask any questions and busied themselves with giving her updates on what was going on.

All the Order members were attempting to pull together some semblance of a government together, hunting through the ranks of existing people for a suitable candidate and trying to pull the strings from behind rather than take charge because they figured that staying out of sight would help them fight when the time came. This was proving to be difficult because a lot of the Death Eaters still managed to keep a respectable face and have a public office, and they were rallying as well, pulling their strings too.

Added to that, the Order now desperately tried to keep control over Azkaban, worrying that the Dementors were going to switch sides. It almost left them with no time or energy to worry about Voldemort himself.

The crashing realities had caused chaos beyond belief, with dead people reappearing, a few people finding their lives so vastly different that they were married to completely different people or having/not having children anymore and suffering, in some of the really serious cases, a complete mental breakdown caused by an unmanageable split personality disorder.

The magical world had, in short, collapsed. And in an almost comical contrast, the muggle world happily carried on, oblivious to everything.

Even those people who had managed to handle it were still finding it extraordinarily difficult to adjust. The other reality had been ravaged by war as a result of which industries had shut down, there had been no advancements in any field and the world had become regressive. The effects had spilled over to the muggle world too, with muggle governments declaring war on whoever they could find fault with for the disasters they couldn't explain. The Cold War had finally erupted to a full blown confrontation between NATO and Russia and the Gulf wars carried on relentlessly.

In contrast, this sunny, comparatively peaceful world was disconcerting to all those people who had learnt to live with the darkness of the other reality.

And it didn't help one bit that Voldemort was pushed to the background, with most people completely unaware of his return and those from the other reality assuming the threat had gone into hibernation.

Everybody popped in and out of the castle, always too busy. Gideon, James and Lily were largely restricted to the castle because they were very high profile, formerly dead members of the community and it wasn't prudent to have them stage center as it would only worsen things. So they ran the HQ, taking charge and working out logistics. Frank and Alice had escaped the house arrest because they weren't strictly dead as much as out of action, although their psychological evaluation conducted by St. Mungo Healers had put them out of field work for the time being till they properly overcame the mental damage that still manifested occasionally.

It made Leila think of Neville. He, like her, had his parents back. And she wondered, if he, like her, was having trouble dealing with the whole idea or if she was the only one who was having trouble coping.

It turned out that Neville handled it much better than she did. He was very quiet when Dumbledore explained the whole thing, unsure if this was a ridiculous dream or if this was one enormous prank that they were all pulling on him. But something told him they wouldn't be this cruel. Nobody would joke about this, would they?

Frank and Alice, after the collision of the realities, found themselves in St Mungo's, extremely disoriented. But the half of them that was in perfect mental condition, fought over the blank, discordant brain activity of their other halves and escaped in the confusion that was surrounding the Hospital.

They had only only one though - to get to the Longbottom estate where poor Natasha would wake up in a room that wasn't hers and come face to face with her long dead grandmother.

The next few days were turbulent and emotional, Augusta particularly having difficulty wrapping her head around the whole thing. She was a practical woman and it was not easy explaining it to her, even with the public statements from the Ministry officials confirming the scenario.

As the four of them sat in the living room that evening, waiting for Neville, Frank and Alice couldn't help but fear the worst. They'd heard how Leila was taking it and watching poor Lily and James fall apart every single day was painful. They wondered if the same fate awaited them.

Neville however, while not a complete contrast to Leila, was more open to the idea. It was easier for him because they hadn't been dead. He could just pretend they woke up sane and came home, like he had always dreamed they would.

But he too, couldn't bring himself to be as emotionally involved. After the first initial day of hysterical weeping and embraces, he had sort of withdrawn, taking an observing position, standing at the sidelines, watching, trying to come to terms with what was happening.

They were grateful that it wasn't as bad as Leila but their heart broke at his wary detachment.

It was Natasha who had finally gotten him to come around. She had cheerfully walked into his room after dinner one day, when he politely excused himself and went away feeling muddled and needing to be alone. She hadn't bothered knocking. Neville looked at her warily. She looked like his mum ('_Kind of like me, now that I think about it.')_.

She gave him a big smile and much to Neville's astonishment, had climbed up his bed and crawled over next to him and sat cross legged.

"You're my big brother, right? So you've got to read me my bed time story from today! Can you read me one with dragons? I like dragons! Do you like dragons?"

"Uh... no..." said Neville, completely thrown.

"Why not?"

"They're not all that nice in the real world."

"Have you seen a dragon?" she asked him, her eyes wide.

Neville nodded, thinking of the Triwizard Tournament. Then he winced as another memory came to him. "I even got detention once because of a baby dragon. My friends were trying to sneak out with it and I got caught too."

Natasha was looking at him like he was the most interesting thing she'd ever seen.

"I like you, even if you don't like dragons." she declared. "You're really clever."

Nevilla raised his eyebrows. '_Now there's something I don't hear often.'_

He wondered if he ought to correct her but she had already moved onto discussing her favourite Bertie Botts beans flavour, telling him that he ought to like coconut so that she could have all the strawberry ones without fighting over them, stopping only to confirm that he didn't like the boogey flavoured ones, because that would be strange.

Hours later, Frank and Alice found them both asleep on his bed, Natasha on his lap, his arms around her, their almost identical faces wearing a slight smile.

Frank grinned. "Well, what do you know... Maybe we ought to lend Natasha to Lily and James and see if it does the trick."

Lily looked around the Gryffindor fourth year girls dorms, feeling a sense of deja vu wash over. It was so strange being back in Hogwarts after all these years.

She spotted the only bed where the owner's stuff was still there and started towards it, feeling guilty and aching with curiosity at the same time. She knew it was wrong to be poking around Leila's things but her hunger for her daughter, for any small, even insignificant piece of information about her, won over her guilt and she went by the bed, looking down at it.

She had been resisting for weeks, convincing herself that any day now, Leila would finally come back to Hogwarts, to them. But it had been over two weeks since that day at the Hospital Wing and from what Arthur or Bill seemed to be indicating, she had no intention of ever leaving the Burrow.

The hurt and pain had been overwhelming but Lily understood. She was a child and one that had been through so much in her life. It would've probably more worrying if she'd woken up and jumped straight into their arms. But she wished she hadn't been this spooked. Neville had accepted it afterall, hadn't he?

'_Yes, but he wasn't abused by his relatives, or left alone to suffer, not knowing who his parents were. He didn't have to fight every year against forces no one, let alone a child, should face. And he didn't watch Voldemort come back to power, murder his friend and get tortured...'_

She broke off her train of though, the agony unbearable. Unlike James and Sirius, she understood exactly why Leila chose to run off and deal with this alone. She understood why Leila didn't want to face them. But that didn't make any of this any less excruciatingly painful.

So she found herself standing by her daughter's bed, desperately reaching for anything that could be hers, anything she would've touched, wanting to feel it too.

She ran her fingers over the bed spread, fisting it in her hands and inhaling the scent. It smelt like a winter morning indoors, of cinnamon and cherries. Lily held it to her face, closing her eyes, just letting the scent wash over her.

She heard a soft knock and looked up. James was standing there, looking at her, his eyes soft. She smiled wanly then sat up, really looking at him.

"How did you get up the stairs?"

"Sirius."

On cue, Sirius popped up behind James, looking amused. "Don't tell me you've forgotten, Lils. You and Marlene Bat Bogeyed me to hell."

"And yet you're here. I thought we traumatized you enough to keep you away for life."

"My Azkaban stint has enabled me to redefine trauma. I'm pleased to say I'm over your evil jinxing abilities, Lils!" he said cheerfully.

James and Lily exchanged a look. Most of the time, when he was predominantly _their_ Sirius, he made jokes about Azkaban. But his other memories took over on occasion and then Lily and James were both genuinely terrified of what he would become. Eyes empty and dark, towering and cold, and very, very angry. He usually turned this way when Bill would come in and shake his head, indicating that Leila was a no show that day as well. And at night, his demons came to get him. He didn't sleep at all. He would stay awake staring emptily at walls or if James and Lily left the door open, he'd come in and sit by their bed, watching over them with a haunted expression.

His moods affected James as well, who had never, ever seen him like this. Even on his worst days, he would shrug it off and make a casual remark. The day he had run away from home, he'd shown up at Godric's Hollow, with a mild expression saying, "Oi, Prongs, I'm officially free of the old lady and the madman. Sadly, my freedom has rendered me homeless. Any chance I can crash at yours, yeah?"

The closest James had seen Sirius distraught or emotionally wrecked was on hearing about Regulus' and Leila's death. But even that didn't compare to this.

Remus popped in too, looking around in interest. "I've always wondered what it looks like in here!"

"It was more interesting when Marlene and Lils were prancing around in their underwear-OW! Oh for Merlin's sake Prongs, it's nothing I haven't seen by now, what with you and Lily shagging everywhere humanly possible over the years and Moony and I walking into you. By the way, your little session on James' old sixth year bed yesterday, that was inspired! I had no idea you could bend like that-OW! Alright, alright... But it's your own fault for not closing the door!"

"Moving on from the Siriusly disturbing insights..." said Remus wryly, walking into the room to Leila's bed.

His eyes softened as well as he stared down at it as well.

James looked at the photos on her bedside keenly. There was one of her and the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team, one with all the Weasleys, with Hermione and Ron, one with Sirius and Remus, at their flat and one of four of them at his wedding, probably taken by Peter. In all the photos she was wearing a shy, quiet smile, and the photo version of her seemed to be keen to stay in the background, out of sight. It was the exact opposite of what his photo self did. Only one photo was an exception. It was tucked away behind all the others. It was with a boy and it had clearly been taken without her knowledge. The boy and her were leaning their heads together and their eyes sparkled as they laughed. James wondered who the kid was.

Remus looked at what he was staring at and smiled slightly. '_Oh, this should be fun!_' he thought, hiding a grin.

"That's her friend, Blaise Zabini." he said casually, biting his lip to stop himself laughing as James' curious expression turned cold and a scowl appeared on his face.

"That Slytherin kid Bhairava told us about? The one she went to the ball with? The one-"

"-she kissed?" finished Sirius, also looking rather venomous. "I saw her cozying up to him at Hogmeade too, getting all touchy-feely."

"They're just friends." said Remus rolling his eyes.

"How would you know?" snapped Sirius. "She's been going all experimental, snogging all the boys she can lay her hands on-"

"WHAT?" shouted James, turning on him. "What the _hell_?"

"James, he's just exaggerating..."

"No, I'm not. She snogged Diggory too, around the same night."

"_Cedric?_"

Sirius felt an inexplicably smug satisfaction at the expression on James' face. Ever since the realities combines, the fact that James was fond of Cedric bugged him, although he couldn't remember having any animosity to the boy in the other reality.

"I don't think it's either of your business'-" began Remus.

"Shut up! You're not supposed to allow this! How could you let _boys_ go near her?" asked James furiously.

Lily snorted. James narrowed his eyes at her. She arched an eyebrow and said, "Would you like me to supply you with a list of all the fourteen year old girls you and Sirius took into various broom closets in school?"

The look of abject horror on both their faces made Remus and Lily turn away and grin. Lily opened Leila's trunk and sifted through it. She looked surprised.

"Muggle clothes! All of them!"

"Yeah, she never wears robes unless it's for classes. She's very muggle, really. Hasn't acclimatized to the wizarding world outside of Hogwarts." admitted Remus. "I once asked her if she wanted to play Quidditch professionally after school and she just looked at me blankly. Apparently, the only thing she'd ever considered doing once she was an adult was travelling the world and doing odd jobs along the way to support it. She said she wanted to see the world and hadn't really thought about life in the wizarding world as an adult."

"That's ridiculous!" said James, looking stunned.

Even Lily looked surprised. It was not unusual for muggleborns to be a bit confused about their futures in the wizarding world but they never even remotely considered reverting to muggle lives. "That's strange..."

"It's stupid." said Sirius flatly.

Remus shrugged. "Knowing Leila, it seems to make sense. She doesn't enjoy conflict, she doesn't like attention and she loves to see new things, observe people and places, all from the sidelines. She's never going to have that anonymity or peace in the wizarding world and seeing as she was raised by muggles, it isn't that strange for her to feel comfortable in that world as much as she does in ours."

"My kid is not going to live like a muggle." said James, his alarm growing. "much less a wandering, aimless muggle doing odd jobs to scrape money for food as she gallivants around the world!"

Lily reached into the deeper recesses of the trunk, and found a strange assortment of things under there. A few of her old wizarding books were scattered. They didn't look they'd been read much. Her copy of Quidditch Through The Ages looked like the only book that had been repeatedly read. Another book was part of the pile and that too looked like it had been read multiple times. It was a muggle book, the original Brothers Grimm stories.

Lily was thoroughly fascinated. She picked up the book, resolving to read it. She'd only read the sugar coated versions as a child and never came across the grittier originals.

The arbitrary pile also consisted of a sneakoscope, a pocket knife, a rough wooden flute, a large photo album with pictures of them ("I'm stealing this from Leila! Even I don't have all these pictures!" exclaimed Remus in delight as he thumbed through it.) a broom polishing kit (which James was eyeing with great interest), a pair of high heels (which caught Sirius's attention. '_Since when has she started wearing stuff like that?' _suddenly imagining Leila with a rather inappropriate dress and those heels. He quickly shut the thought off when he realized it wasn't annoying him like he expected, rather he was enjoying it far too much for his comfort.)

Lily summarily realized something. "She doesn't collect stuff. At all."

"No. She doesn't. Not big on material stuff. I don't know if it's because she doesn't care for it or if it's because-" Remus broke off, looking uncomfortable.

"Because?" probed Lily.

"Because no one's ever gotten her anything. Ron said the first time she ever got a Christmas present was from Hagrid and his mum in their first year. And her first birthday present was in third year. So..."

Lily swallowed the lump in her throat and didn't dare to look at James. Remus too looked around, determined to avoid his gaze. His eyes fell on her Firebolt. Seizing it gratefully, he held it up. "And life makes a full circle. Sirius got her this."

"Just like he got her that toy broomstick." said James smiling faintly, still yet to recover from what he'd just heard.

"And that's why I'm her favourite!" said Sirius puffing out his chest, looking very proud of himself.

Lily rolled her eyes and shifted the Brothers Grimm book to her other hand. A photograph fell out of it. She picked up and her eyes widened. It was a picture of Leila and Cedric. They were both under a tree, his arms around her as she leaned back into him. Her loose sweater was slipping off slightly and Cedric was dipping his head to her bare shoulder, kissing it. It was a tender picture. Lily's mind whirred. Leila had tucked the photo away in a book, away from the public gazes that the other photos were subjected to. Remus' eyes widened and he gestured for Lily to put it away. But before she could, Sirius caught sight of it. He snatched it up, his face darkening.

"What the hell?" he snarled. James also stared at it, mirroring Sirius' expression. The back of the photo had a note scribbled on it. Sirius flipped it over and read out aloud. _  
_

_Potter,_

_Yes, alright, I snapped pictures of you two. I was so very bored that I was reduced to becoming a paparazzi. _

_Consider this a bribe for getting me out off guard duty the next time you and Ced have your secret snogging sessions. _

_-Sean_

_p.s. - You owe me. _

James looked up and said slowly. "This doesn't sound experimental."

"They were together..." whispered Lily.

"No, they weren't. I asked-" snapped Sirius, something dark growing inside of him.

"Yes, they were." said Remus.

Sirius rounded on him. Remus looked at him tiredly. "They started dating around Christmas. They were keeping it under wraps because they didn't want anyone to think they were collaborating during the Tournament."

"No..." said Sirius, his face growing darker. "She told me it was nothing... She said no boyfriends..."

"She didn't want you to know."

They could feel the rage slowly radiating out from Sirius. "She lied to me."

"She didn't think you'd take it well. And can you blame her, after your outburst the night before?"

Sirius stayed silent but James caught something in his face, an expression beyond the rage and hurt. It was something else and it made James look away for reasons he couldn't entirely explain.

Lily however, had tuned the conversation out, her horror growing.

"She... she lost her _boyfriend_ that night. Voldemort killed more than just her friend." Lily said, very, very quietly.

They all stilled.

"Oh god..." whispered James, looking sickened.

Remus sighed. "Yes." he said softly.

James pulled Lily up, looking grim. "I think it's time we got her back. Fuck the whole give her space plan." He dragged Lily out, looking agonized and determined.

Remus grimaced. He had known this is what would happen and he wished he'd kept his mouth shut, although the photo was pretty self explanatory. He followed them out, wondering how he could talk sense into James.

Sirius was left standing there, the darkness swirling around him. He stared at the picture and felt a terrible pain gnawing away at him.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **

**The last chapter didn't have an Author's Note although there was one due because I ended up uploading that on a drunken high from my mobile on the night bus back home after a lovely Saturday night. So I'll just club it all here. Thanks for the wonderful reviews! The song track that I thought was fitting for the early bits of the previous chapter was 'Concrete Angel' by Martina McBride, if you're interested. **

**And thank you for all the lovely, encouraging reviews! I'd like to specially thank luckeycomet09 and a Guest reviewer for pointing out the Leila is entitled to behave the way she does given that her life has been unfortunate and after what happened at the graveyard, PTSD is a given!**

**I'd promised myself I would never defend my characters or the way I've portrayed some of JKR's original characters, particularly seeing that they're flawed and that's how it should be, in my opinion. Heroes and villains are as human as any of us. So I'll be rather pleased if you can't completely like them. You're not meant to. But the reviews that said Leila was being a 'brat' really threw me. Personally speaking, if I suddenly had my long dead parents show up, even if I didn't have a terrible childhood, or the weight of being a world saviour, or watch the return of a homicidal maniac return and be tortured over the body of my dead boyfriend, EVEN THEN I wouldn't go running into the arms of my alive again parents. Not a chance. And also, she's like Bella Swan? Bella Swan went catatonic because her boyfriend dumped her. I don't think I need to point out that the scale of tragedies is very different. **

**But like I said, you're most entitled to your opinions and I cherish them, so no worries. But I'm afraid I'm not going to make her less 'bratty'. I like her very human, very messed up and more like someone I could relate to and not an ideal of human sanity or acceptance. That being said, yes I think Lily and James could use a break. So onward to the next chapter where there's some respite for them ;)**

**And if you're keen on it, the middle bit of this chapter is resonant with 'For the First Time' by The Script :)**

Leila's head pounded with pain and she clenched her teeth to prevent any sound from escaping and waking Ginny. Her slow recovery was being accompanied by occasional visits to Voldemort's head or terrible dreams of darkness, endless pits and endless empty spaces. Last night had been Voldemort. She couldn't work out what was going on or even discern his thoughts, but she'd realized he was _furious_ and his rage spilled over to her mind as a violent pounding headache. She had funny feeling Lucius Malfoy had something to with riling him up.

'_I hope he kills him. One less lackey we have to deal with.'_

She splashed her face with cold water, hoping it'd help. The pain subsided a bit but her head still felt heavy. She stepped out into the hallway and the smell wafting through there made her sigh with relief. Fresh, roasted coffee.

Leila had always been more of a coffee drinker preferring it over tea. But her occasional indulgence of creamy, light caffeine had become a full blown addiction to dark, thick coffee thanks to Bill. His constant exposure to Middle Eastern cafes had made him a coffee enthusiast and he had been delighted to find a fellow coffee lover in a house full of traditionally English tea drinkers. Now they spent their mornings talking over double espressos before he set off to Hogwarts, much to Molly's displeasure ("_It's bad enough you drink that disgusting thing, must you encourage Leila too? She doesn't need coffee! She barely sleeps as it is!"_)

She trudged down the stairs, eyes barely open, her fingers rubbing her temples, trying to will the headache away.

Bill was in the kitchen, very much making coffee.

"Tell me you made extra..." moaned Leila, looking at him through the slits of her almost closed eyes. "I don't think I can function without five shots today."

"Leila! Good morning!" If Leila hadn't been battling her monster headache, she would've noticed he sounded a little too chipper. And his grin was teetering towards nervous.

"What's so good about it..." she mumbled, making her way to his side, and inhaling the coffee.

"Hello, love." she said looking down at the mug that Bill poured out for her. "I have missed you. I wish you'd write more often."

"You now officially have a problem. I mean, coffee's great but really?" Bill told her.

"This, coming from someone who sneaks in whiskey into their coffee at 7 am? I don't judge your unhealthy tendencies, so lay off mine."

"I personally prefer this one to the disappearing act you've been pulling." said an oh-so-familiar voice behind her.

Leila's eyes opened wide, her cup touching her lips but not tilting, her hands having frozen halfway.

Bill gave her an apologetic look.

She slowly turned on her heel, her grip tightening on her mug at the sight of the four people seated around the kitchen table. Sirius raised his eyebrows at her as she focused on him, her heart thudding, refusing to allow her gaze to wander to the two people seated on either side of him. Remus was sitting on the far left, giving her a sad smile when her eyes quickly went to him.

Bill cleared his throat and said, "They er... needed to talk to Dad and I about something and erm... They wanted a change from the Hogwarts castle."

Leila gave him a look of disgust. '_Traitor.'_Now left with no physical barriers to hide behind, she struggled mentally to move behind her next line of defense. Dry wit and sarcasm.

But for the life of her, she couldn't think of anything offhandedly funny to say at that moment.

Unwittingly, Sirius gave her the push she needed by saying. "And so here we are, waiting for Arthur to come back but who should we find but the great, inaccessible superhero of our times, Leila Potter herself, emerging from her cave!" It was hard to miss the acid in his voice. He was beyond _pissed_.

"Yeah, my cave. I'm a utility belt short of being the next Bruce Wayne." she muttered. She knew nobody would get the muggle comic book reference but it helped her steel herself.

"What are you talking about?"

"Muggle joke."

"Always up for an education so pray, do explain."

"Like the way I had to explain what a hovercraft was for hours before you gave up trying to understand? That's a couple of hours of our lives wasted that we're never getting back."

Sirius's eyes had narrowed to slits and Leila knew the pretend banter was over and he was going to start screaming his head off. Remus sensed the danger too and quickly said, "How're you feeling?"

"Fan_tas_tic." she said swiveling her eyes to Remus.

Much to her horror, it was James who spoke up. "Good to know. That means you can come back with us."

The shock of hearing her father's voice properly for the first time disarmed her and she turned to look at him.

They both stared at each other, green and hazel eyes, meeting for the first time. She took in his dark messy hair, his handsome face, the way his glasses framed his eyes and his lean muscular frame perched tense on his chair, giving away his state of mind that his calm face had been hiding.

His eyes too desperately drank in the sight of her. Dark long hair, his hair. Lily's eyes. Graceful, angular, fragile looking and unbelievably beautiful. He wondered how on earth he helped create _that_.

The both stared at each other trying to think beyond the sight in front of them but failing, till his words finally collated in her head.

"Wait, what?" she asked, dazed. "G-Go where?"

She turned and looked at Bill, her eyes widening in panic.

"Bill's not helping you abscond this time. So don't bother." snapped Sirius, throwing him a dirty look.

"I don't want to go! You can't make me go!" she said a bit hysterically, trying to reign in her panic.

"Leila please..." Her eyes immediately turned to her mother, who had tears in her eyes. The same green eyes she saw in the mirror every single fucking day. Leila felt her wind pipe slowly closing up.

"Breathe!" whispered Bill, nudging her, giving the four of them a look that clearly spelled his disapproval of their decision to come and strong arm her back to Hogwarts with them.

Remus too seemed to have realized this was an enormously stupid thing to do. He got up and quietly made his way to her and held her hand which wasn't occupied by her coffee mug. He knew, of the four of them, she was most likely to not be overwhelmed by him.

"Would you like to go out for a walk with me?" he asked softly. She looked at Remus, automatically relaxing. She knew he would never, ever make her do anything she didn't want to. She nodded frantically.

"Why? So both of you can bloody conspire and keep secrets, as usual?" Sirius sounded so angry that even in her state of complete disarray, she couldn't help wondering what that was all about. Remus gave him a look and Lily elbowed him, hissing, "Sirius!"

Remus nodded at them and said, "Go on back to Hogwarts. Kingsley had some news and Moody's getting an update on Azkaban. I'm going to stay here with her." His tone was pleasant but they heard the warning in his voice.

Leila practically ran out of the door, dragging Remus along, away from the three sets of piercing, longing gazes following them out.

Leila finally stopped by the pond, and sat down. Remus sat next to her and put his arms around her. They stayed like that for sometime, not saying anything.

Remus finally looked at her and said, "Madam Promfrey said you had injuries from..." he shook his head, unable to bring himself to even say it. "How're you feeling? Has the pain subsided?"

"Yeah. It's better now." Remus instantly knew she was lying and he clenched his fist, the wolf in him making a rare appearance on his human face. He struggled to get his anger under control.

"Would you like to talk to me about what happened?"

And for the first time, she said out aloud exactly what happened. The narrative ended with Leila staring blankly ahead and Remus with his head buried in his hands.

"I want to join the Order." she said quietly. "I have to fight."

Remus's head snapped up in shock. "No!" he exclaimed. "You're-"

"If you say underage, I will hit you, Moony."

Remus shook his head, his eyes wild and full of terror. "You can't! I won't let you!"

"If anyone has earned the right and has proven themselves capable of facing him, I have!" she said angrily.

"No! Leila, we already buried you once. I cannot do that again. I just can't! None of us can!"

"This is not that reality!" she said, her voice rising. "This is here! This is now! Can you let that fucking back story of your other reality go? This is _our_ reality! And nothing has changed here! Nothing!"

Remus stared at her, long and hard. "I have. Sirius has. And-" he stopped, suddenly understanding.

"Honey, James and Lily... Don't do this to them. Every minute you're away... You have no idea, how much they've longed for you. They've carried your ghost on their shoulders for thirteen years, never once letting you go. This, whatever be the circumstances-"

"My parents are dead!" she said, shaking. "I heard them. The Dementors played out the scene for me. You want to know how they died? My dad was unarmed, in the front room. He tried to fight Voldemort to give my mum and me time. He died like a bug in the way of a pedestrian! And my mum died trying to protect me, sacrificing herself when she didn't need to! So don't fucking-" she broke off, tears streaming down her eyes.

Remus understood, perfectly. He exhaled slowly. "Oh Leila... Is that why...? You know don't you, when the universe split, the people divided into two. Lily and James are, in every way, your parents. Honey, this is not a replacement for the ones you lost. Is that what you think?"

Leila looked up, her vision blurred with tears. He said softly, "They are your parents. They were right up till the moment Voldemort split the universe. Just as Cedric is the same. But circumstances have led them to live divergent lives."

She stayed silent.

"You've accepted me and even Sirius. We have both our realities combined. Your parents would've too, had they survived here."

She just shuddered at his words.

"I know this can't be easy to process... But please, just come back with us. Just... be around us. It's a selfish request after everything you've been through but it's killing us every minute you're away. Do this for me, please."

Leila half sobbed and half laughed. "That's not fair. You know I never deny _you_ anything."

"And I, you." He held her tilted her chin up to make her look at him. "I promise you, I won't make you talk to anyone till you're ready or expect anything from you. I even promise to help you get some space if you need it. But just come back... For me."

Leila finally nodded and he smiled, pulling her into a hug.

"Leila? I'm so sorry about Cedric." he said quietly.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For not saying he's here and asking me why I'm grieving, like everybody else has been doing."

"Of course not. He may be Cedric but he has none of your Cedric's memories of his life here, of you. How could it be the same?"

She pressed her face into her shoulder and she whispered so softly that he barely heard her. "It was matter of minutes. The realities combined _minutes_ after he was killed."

"I know... I'm so sorry..."

"It should've been me."

"No, it shouldn't have been either of you." Remus felt his anger at Voldemort bubble and splutter inside him. "It shouldn't have been _anyone_."

The Weasley siblings were outraged that Leila was being asked to stay at the Order HQ. Remus promised them that they could drop by too when Bill and Arthur came by now that Leila was there and assured them that she wasn't going to be allowed in for their meetings as she was underage as well.

Fred and George pulled her aside and handed her extendable ears to help her listen in. Leila grinned and pocketed them, careful to keep them out of Remus's sight.

They floo'd back to McGonagall's empty office. An Order meeting was underway and Remus hurried off, leaving Leila infinitely glad to be able to head to the Gryffindor tower without the danger of running into anyone.

She entered her dorm and gratefully dropped her bag. She frowned as she realized her trunk was open. She always closed it. Unless...

'_Did they go through my stuff?'_

She sorted through it and it was a bit out of place. She also noticed that the Brothers' Grimm book and the picture of her and Cedric were missing. She felt a hot flush of anger but a quiet, reasonable voice in her told her that if the roles had been reversed, she would've done the same. She sighed, her anger fading. In any case, some of the more valuable things she had taken with her like her invisibility cloak, the map and her Gringotts' key. It was always a default in her smaller travel bag. She would have to learn an expansion charm to be able to fit her Firebolt too then she literally had everything she cared about in a bag at all times.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. Whatever Remus had promised her, she knew she was going to have to face them and survive the meeting without coming off as a totally unhinged human being. She took deep breaths and reminded herself that if she could walk into class after being beaten up by Dudley at age 7 with a straight face, masking all the injuries or that she had even been crying, then she could do this.

And she also wanted to humour the ripple of longing under all her apprehension, terror and outright disbelief.

A soft knock sounded at the door and she looked up, startled. It was Lily and James. '_Right on__Cue' _They'd run off from the meeting as soon as Remus told them Leila had agreed to come back. He tried stopping them but they'd shrugged him off.

Leila just stared at them. Her mind was completely blank save the urge to grab her broom and fly out of the tower was overwhelming. But she held it in and racked her very quiet brain for something to say. She did the first thing she could think of and gestured at her trunk. "Was it you who...?"

Both of them looked abashed. Leila groaned internally. She really hadn't intended to sound as accusatory as she just did.

"Sorry..." whispered Lily, looking guilty.

Leila quickly shook her head. "No, it's alright. I just wanted to check that it was _you_ and not someone else. No worries."

James tentatively walked to where she sat on her bed and looked down at her, wondering how close he could get near her without terrifying her. She already looked ready to bolt already.

They both looked at each other, waiting for the other person to say or do something. Then Leila figured it had to be her because she'd been the one hiding all this time. She reached into the duffel bag and pulled out the map and the cloak and held it out to him.

"I think this is yours."

James' eyes widened as he took it, an awed expression crossing his face.

"Dumbledore gave you my cloak! I would've thought he'd have waited for you leave school before giving it to you. And the map! Merlin, we lost this in our seventh year! We literally wept for days! How did you get it?"

"All credit goes to the Weasley twins. They stole it from Filch's office in their first year, learnt to work it and in a bizarre coincidence, seeing as none of us knew who Prongs, Moony, Padfoot and Wormtail were at that point, bequeathed it to me in my third year to help me sneak into Hogsmeade."

Leila was relieved at how relatively easy it was to talk. She figured as long as the conversation was light and didn't stray into emotional territory, she could actually survive around them.

James looked amused. "You sneaked out to Hogsmeade?"

"Long story." Then hesitating, she held out her hand. The tiny Gringotts key was in her palm.

"Also yours now. Although what you're going to do with an _empty_ vault, I don't know..."

James had been staring at her key with an odd expression but his eyes widened at her words and he looked at her in alarm.

Leila grinned. "I'm joking, relax. I've barely used any of it. Just tuition fee and school stuff. It's still full to the brim."

Lily, standing behind Leila on the other side of the bed, started to laugh but quickly coughed to cover it. James's expression had been priceless.

"Ha ha..." he muttered, reaching down to take the key, his fingers making contact with Leila's palm. Both of them froze. He picked up the key and withdrew his hand quickly. Leila was stunned at the feeling of loss. While she hardly ever spent money and had never had any when she was younger, she had definitely gotten used to the idea that she could, if she wanted to, access a full vault whenever she wanted.

Lily cleared her throat and said, "I have your Brothers' Grimm book. Do you mind? I've always wanted to read the original fairy tales..."

"Sure." said Leila, as she turned to look at her mother, her stomach swooping as she took in the sight of the beautiful woman in front of her. "I've read it a million times. Keep it for as long you like."

Lily's face lit up like a thousand Christmas lights at her words.

James held out the cloak and the map and smiled. "This is yours. The Potter invisibility cloak has its story written by every generation of school going troublemakers in the family. I hear you're sticking to tradition in that aspect. And the map, well, I salute the Weasley twins!"

Leila smiled and took it from him. "Thanks."

James hesitated and added, "The key... you're used to being in charge of when and how you get your money. I could get a copy of the key for you and sign you up as a co-signatory..."

Leila's heart leapt at that but she guilt immediatly took over and she quashed the euphoria down.

"No." said Leila firmly, feeling extremely uncomfortable. "I... just.. no. It's nice to have the independence but it wasn't a particularly joyful thing to be given the keys because your parents are ... deceased."

All three of them shifted uncomfortable. Leila took a deep breath and said, "Like I said, I hardly spend any of it, aside from school and birthday and Christmas presents for my friends. So..."

"You'll be okay with just pocket money?" tested James, unsure. He would feel awkward being put on a budget if he'd had complete control over his own account for years. "Not that you can't ask for how much ever you need, whenever you want-"

Leila's eyes lit up. "No! An allowance is fine, if you think it's necessary. I honestly don't care... I mean, doesn't look we'll have school and I don't... I mean, Blimey, this is weird. It's fine, alright. Keep it. I could do with a little less responsibility anyway."

Lily and James stared at her, astonished at her discomfort over the idea of an allowance. Struck by a sudden thought, Lily ventured, "You have got pocket money before right?" Leila stayed silent, not at all happy with where this conversation was going. Her silence was answer enough. James met Lily's eyes and they both quickly looked away.

"I see." he said, his voice rough. "Well, no time like the present for you to start checking off some off those boxes. Allowance it is. And please, please ask if you need more. You can have whatever you want."

Leila sensed the danger of heading down an emotional road and jumped up, needing to run out of there. "I ah.. need to go to the Owlery. I've abandoned Hedwig the last couple of weeks. It's going to take her forever to forgive me, so I better go start grovelling now and allow my fingers to be pecked at mercilessly."

"Your owl's great." Lily said, with a smile. "She comes by every morning during breakfast. I think she was looking for you and would sort of look at Remus quizzically."

"She's a smart one." agreed Leila with a smile, starting to head to the door.

James felt his heart sink watching her go. He fought the urge to grab hold of her and keep her chained to him but he didn't think that would endear him to her at all. She was finally attempting conversation and he was didn't want to send her running again.

'_One step at a time...'_he told himself.

"Will you come back here, to the Gryffindor Common room or straight for dinner with the rest of the Order at the Great Hall?"

Leila froze, feeling a panic attack come on at the thought of seeing the entire Order. She'd already strained all her nerves just trying to get through the last five minutes and there was no way she could deal with people staring at her today and mostly, she couldn't face Cedric.

"I uh... I was thinking I'd spend the evening with a house elf friend of mine. So..." '_Dobby will be happy to do all the talking and I'd rather eat my dinner in the kitchen.'_

James nodded, disappointed and also a little bemused. '_House elf friend? What?'_

"Okay. See you here then. Lily, Remus, Sirius, Gideon and I are staying at the Gryffindor Tower, in the boys dorms."

Leila nodded and quickly left, deciding to come back late so that she wouldn't have to run into any of them in the Common Room at night.

Leila waited till it was almost 1 am in the morning before she left the kitchens. As she has suspected, nobody was around and she sprinted up to Gryffindow tower. Confident that everyone would've gone to bed, she climbed into the Common Room. She stopped dead. The fires were dying out and Sirius stood alone, staring into them. He didn't acknowledge her as she entered.

'_Okay... Brooding, is he? Good. I can escape now.'_

She tip toed to the stairs but stopped when she heard his voice. "Hello to you too."

She turned to face him. He was still staring at the fire.

"Hullo."

The silence between them grew strained. Leila knew a fight was inevitable but she'd been hoping to stave it off for a bit longer.

"So, it's _Remus_ you'll listen to, is it?"

Leila blinked. Of all the things she thought he'd throw at her, this was the least expected.

"Run that by me again?"

"Moony is the one you go to with your secrets. He's the one who can get you back to us. And if you talk, it'll be to him. You told him what happened at the graveyard. We had to hear it from him. You didn't even tell Dumbledore, but you told him."

Leila tried to understand what was going on. "Well, it's Moony. He's ..." '_He's sort of my dad.'_A few weeks ago she'd have said it out loud but now, with the surreal knowledge that James Potter was upstairs in the boys' dorm, she couldn't get her tongue to form the words.

Sirius finally looked up at her. Her eyes roved his face, taking in the features she knew and loved and noticing the changes. He looked younger, sharper and his eyes weren't lined with dark circles. He was clean shaven, having dropped the permanent stubble he had taken a liking to before. '_Pity.'_

But right now, with the anger simmering around him and his eyes stormy, he was every bit as intimidating and very much the Sirius she knew. She instinctively felt her own anger crawl up to the surface.

"Is there something you want to say to me, Sirius? If so, spit it out. It's late and I'm tired."

"Nobody asked you to go gallivanting about this late. But that's your thing, isn't it? Running away."

"I needed to be alone."

"You needed to be here with me, with us."

"And that would've helped nothing. I'm better now only because I had the space to deal with things."

"Are you dealing? Because it seems to me like you're hiding."

"I'm fine-"

"The hell you are. Look at the way you're holding yourself. Your muscles are torn and you still have internal injuries! You refused pain numbing potions!"

"It has to heal on its own. There's nothing I can do-"

"And you're ripped up on the inside! I can see it on your face!"

"I said I'm fine!"

"Say it, then. Say the words. 'My _parents_ are alive.'"

Her throat closed.

"You can't say it, can you? Alright, let's try this one. Cedric Diggory. Just say his name out loud."

Leila backed away. He stepped towards her, his eyes flashing. "Say his name, Leila. Think about him. Think about the two of you. Did he touch you? How was it?"

"W-what?" Her head was spinning and she felt sick.

Sirius reached inside his pocket and tossed her the photograph of her and Cedric. She caught it, stunned.

"You lied to me." he said, his voice deadly.

Leila felt rage course through her. "Damn right I did. It wasn't and still isn't your business."

He was almost right in front of her. "You are _my_ business. Everything about you is _my_ business. And you let that stupid _boy_ lay his hands on you..."

"Shut up! Don't you dare talk about him!"

Sirius grabbed her arms and pulled her to him. "Maybe I shouldn't be talking about him. Maybe it's _you_ we should talk about! Did you let him die thinking he was the one and only? Because I saw you and Zabini at Hogsmeade..."

"Stop talking right now, Sirius." she said, her voice shaking with fury at what he was implying.

He shook her roughly, beyond reason. "Maybe Skeeter was right. You are a slu-" He found himself pushed back violently and he crashed into the armchair.

The fall startled him and slowly, he realized what he just did. He jumped to his feet and looked at her with utmost horror. Her eyes were wide, tears were spilling down her cheeks. Her face was pale, her shirt was disheveled from his manhandling and her hands were clenched around the photograph.

"I loved him." she whispered hoarsely, struggling to breathe properly. "And I got him killed. So really, I think my apparent sluttiness is the least of my sins."

Sirius felt sick. His heart squeezed painfully at her words and his self loathing seeped like poison into his blood. "I didn't mean it..." he whispered back. "Leila, I'm such a dick, I didn't meant it..." He stepped forward, his arms reaching out to her but she flinched away from him.

She turned and ran up to the girls dorm, leaving him standing there, terribly afraid that he had finally crossed a line.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: To all my wonderful reviewers, thanks a tonne for all your kindness, encouragement, your reassurances and well, just for taking the time to write in! It meant the world to me! The story has crossed a 100 reviews and followers and I can't begin to tell you how fantastic that feels! **

**Yes, Sirius is a dick. But that's who he has. I've been a bigger dick at times and I don't have 12 years of Azkaban as an excuse. **

**As always, if you're keen, I switched the song track in my player to 'Beautiful Beat' by Nada Surf for the first part of the chapter. **

James and Lily came down the stairs the next morning, hoping to find Leila. What they did find in the common room was a wary looking Remus standing at the bottom of the stairs. They turned to look at what he was staring at and their eyebrows shot up.

Sirius was slumped on the armchair, his eyes bloodshot, looking like hell had rained down on him. He had a half finished bottle of Firewhisky by his feet and he was just staring into the burnt out logs at the fireplace with a blank expression.

"Moony, we have to do something. He's getting worse!" whispered James, feeling sick at the sight of best friend looking like that.

Remus however slowly shook his head, with a funny expression on his face. "I know that look. It's not Azkaban memories. That look and the excessive whiskey is a typical state after a massive fight with Leila."

"What?" asked Lily, bemused. "What fight? Do they really fight that much?"

"Don't even get me started. And now that we're on the topic, if they start screaming and saying awful things to each other, just walk away and let them calm down. Don't stick around to listen because it'll make your ears bleed."

"You're kidding me, Moony." said James, in disbelief.

"Trust me on this one."

He cautiously walked up to Sirius, bent down and picked up his bottle and waved his hand in front of his face. Sirius blinked and looked up at him, misery etched on his face.

"What did you do this time?"

"I didn't mean to... I just stayed here and waited for her to come back..."

"Paddy, I told you not to. I told you she was returning late on purpose so she doesn't run into anyone." admonished Remus.

"But I needed to see her! Two weeks! It's been over two weeks since I've seen her properly!"

"So you saw her and promptly flew into a rage." finished Remus, with a sigh.

Sirius shuddered and buried his face in his hands. "Oh Merlin..."

Lily came up from behind and tentatively placed her hands on his shoulders, "It's okay. She'll come around. Just apologize."

Sirius looked up and saw Lily and James look at him with worry. He felt terrible and he turned away, unable to look at them. If they had any idea what he'd said to her, the worry would vanish and they'd hex him all the way to Tartarus and back.

He looked pleadingly at Moony. "I may have crossed a line this time."

"You always do. Never stopped the two of you from going back to ganging up and giggling about something in an hour."

"This time I really went overboard."

"Well, don't be an arse then. Beg and plead till she comes around. And if she asks you to sod off, stay away till she comes looking for you. She always does."

Sirius nodded glumly and then stood up with a sigh. "Need a shower. See you downstairs." He slouched upstairs, leaving the three of them staring after him.

"Can I just say, I'm never going to get used to him being like this. Have you ever seen him get this worked up about _anything_?" said James, shaking his head.

"It's a bit... unsettling." agreed Lily.

"You haven't seen the half of it." said Remus.

Leila wasn't down at the Great Hall for breakfast. James kept looking around waiting for her to show. Even though they all just used one big table, there will still always spaces left even if all the order members showed. And none of the Order members ever came till after breakfast and he'd hoped that would encourage her to join them.

But it looked like her fight with Sirius had rendered any progress they had made void. She stayed out of sight the whole day and James and Lily stayed up at night in the Common Room, waiting for her. Sirius had tried to as well but Remus dragged him off, pointing out that he'd done the damage and he owed it to James and Lily to just walk away for the night.

Leila dragged her feet back in close to 2 am. She'd spent the entire day in a mess, wandering between the lake and the Quidditch grounds, the two places Cedric and her frequented. Sirius' nastiness had also chucked up another question in her head - Where the hell was Blaise Zabini? His father was bound to be a supporter of Voldemort and there was no saying how this would affect his ex wife and their son. She wondered if he was alright and then felt guilty about it because she felt like she ought not to think about him when she was mourning for Cedric and that in turn incensed her because she would never feel this way of Sirius hadn't said what he had last night.

Angry with him, angry with herself, angry with Blaise for disappearing, angry with Cedric for not taking the cup and going when asked him to, angry with him for being alive and not being him, she went back and forth, hidden under her invisibility cloak.

Finally exhausted and hungry, she returned to the Common Room late, not really in any state to talk to do anything at all.

She found James and Lily waiting there for her and her mood oscillated wildly as she stared at them, swinging from jumpy anger at one moment to disbelieving awe to the verge of tears that someone had waited for her to come back just so that they could say hello.

Feeling mixed up and inarticulate, she just stared at them. Both of them looked back, trying their best to mask their horror at her state. Her face was streaked with tears she hadn't bothered to wipe off, her eyes were red, she looked pale and exhausted and on the verge of collapsing.

"Hi." whispered Lily softly.

"Hi." whispered back Leila, sounding eerily alike.

James pursed his lips and said, "Crap day, huh?"

"That's putting it mildly."

"No offense, but you look it."

Leila blinked at his bluntness and her confused, mixed feels fell away to a sudden onset of mirth. Standing in the Gryffindor Common room, her whole life coming apart at seams, she was facing her _parents_ and making small talk. The whole thing was ridiculous and mind boggling. So she laughed.

James looked alarmed but all Lily could think was at that instant, her face filled with amusement and her laughter sounding in the room, she was every bit James' daughter. They had the exact same grin.

"I-What happened?" asked James in a daze.

"Well now you know how I feel when you start laughing randomly when we're stressing out." Lily told him wryly.

Leila heard that and laughed some more. "Oh god, this is ridiculous. I'm just glad this weird stress response thing is hereditary. I really thought I was going crazy for a moment."

"Oh." said James, still alarmed. "Have you eaten anything?"

Leila sighed, her insides were clawing at her. "N-Yes."

"Nyes?"

"Yes."

"You didn't, did you?"

"I... forgot?"

They both frowned at her. "You're still recovering from injuries. Pretty inappropriate time to forget to eat." said Lily, a little flatly.

"I know. Sorry."

James sighed and got up. "Let's go."

"Go where?"

"The kitchens. The house elves are always up, for reasons I cannot fathom. Dinner was pretty good. Let's salvage something."

"I'm fine, the hunger has passed." said Leila, hurriedly.

James wanted to snap at her, his worry and fear for her making him edgy and angry. But he halted his retort when he saw her face. It was so full of grief and fatigue and the uncertainty with which she looked at him broke his heart.

Leila looked away and said quietly, "I think I'm going to bed. Good night."

She made her way quietly to the stairs and James said softly, "Sirius has been miserable all day. Any chance you can forgive him?"

When Leila turned to look at him, he had to stop himself from backing away. She looked so _dangerous_.

"Did he put you up to this?" she demanded through clenched teeth.

"No." said Lily firmly. "Just us throwing it out there..."

Leila bit down a horrible retort, reminding herself that she was angry with Sirius and not them. She'd try to petition on Ron and Hermione's behalf too if they were fighting with someone.

She just turned and strode up the stairs, leaving James and Lily wondering just what exactly could Sirius have said that made her _that_ angry.

The next morning, James promised himself that if Leila didn't come for breakfast by 8, he would go up and drag her down. He was fed up of seeing her starve.

Lily looked up and broke into a smile. Frank and Alice made their way to them, with Natasha following and a boy was with them, holding her hand.

He smiled a little shyly at him, Lily and James looked over him with great interest. He looked exactly like Alice, but with Frank's dark hair. The boy hesitated then held out his hand to shake theirs. "Mr and Mrs Potter, I'm Neville."

James and Lily shook his hand and grinned at him. Natasha had already sidled up to Lily and hugged her.

"Lily and James are Natasha's godparents." explained Alice to Neville.

"Can I see Leila?" asked Natasha excitedly. James and Lily exchanged a look. "We don't know where she is, honey."

Neville gave them a sympathetic look and said, "Mum and Dad said you guys are busy and seeing as Leila is here by herself, I asked if Tasha and I can tag along and keep her company while you guys are doing work. Probably not a good idea to let her be alone..."

Lily smiled gratefully at him. After yesterday, she was particularly worried about her.

"Neville?" They turned to see Leila standing there, looking surprised. She was wearing her Quidditch gloves and boots over a pair of jeans, looking a bit windswept and had her broomstick slung over her shoulder.

Neville went up to her and gave her a warm hug. "I never thought I'd see you on a broom this early in the morning unless Wood kicked you awake for it."

Leila shrugged and said, "Didn't get much sleep and I wanted to get out and fly for a bit. I haven't had the chance since the Horntail."

"Horntail?" piped up Natasha, who had silently watched the exchange. "Oooh is that the dragon?"

Leila looked at the little girl in confusion. "Erm, yes?"

Neville laughed. "Leila, this is my sister, Natasha. She's a big fan of dragons and has heard all about your exploits with them." Leila's eyes widened. "Oh. Hi?"

Natasha hugged her, coming up only to her waist. Leila awkwardly patted her on the head, looking at Neville wide eyed. She found Frank and Alice looking at her with great interest. Neville jerked his head towards them and said, "My parents."

Leila nodded polietly and said "Hullo!", trying to imagine the two of them being held down by the Cruciatus. She winced at the thought. Then suddenly it occurred to her that she might have to do similar introductions and she felt her panic rise. There was no way she could bring herself to say the word 'parents' out loud just yet. She looked at Lily and James and said, "Um... That's..."

"I've already met Mr and Mrs Potter." Neville cut across, coming to her rescue.

Leila nodded in relief. Natasha still had her arms around her and she looked up and said, "If Aunt Lily and Uncle James are my godmother and godfather, are you my godsister?"

Leila looked at her in astonishment. "Am I?" she asked looking dazed. Lily and James looked at her anxiously, bracing themselves for her to freak out. To their surprise she looked down at Natasha and said thoughtfully, "Funnily enough, your brother wanted to officially adopt me into the Longbottom family so that he won't be the only one getting into trouble with your grandmother. So yeah, I think I'm sort of your sister. Is that cool?"

Natasha's face lit up. "Yay! Is it true you've seen dragons?"

"Yep. I like dragons."

"Me too! Neville doesn't."

"To be fair, he's got some valid reasons."

"Can I have a baby dragon?"

Leila pondered the point for a bit. "Well, I know someone who tried to have a baby dragon pet. It didn't end very well because it turned out to be a bit cranky. In fact, I'm going to go see him in a bit. Would you like to come along and ask him about it?"

Natasha nodded eagerly. Then she spotted Remus and went off to say hi.

Neville stretched his arms and said, "Breakfast?"

"I was going to raid the kitchen. Do you remember Dobby? He said if I showed up early enough in the mornings, I'd get fresh strawberries and clotted cream. Shall we?"

"Hell yes. Think he'll throw in an eclair?"

"At seven in the morning? Really? Hey, Natasha? Do you want to see the Hogwarts Kitchen? It's top secret..." she winked at the little girl.

Natasha immediately came up to them, took Leila and Neville's hand and talked all the way till the three of them disappeared down towards the stairs leading to the Hufflepuff common room.

Lily, James, Frank and Alice just gaped after them.

"You said she wasn't coping..." Alice said, a bit dazed.

"She wasn't! Lils, that's what our kid is like when she's being normal! Wasn't she just _adorable_!?" Stars practically shone out of James' eyes.

Lily nodded, looking awed.

Frank turned to Alice and said, "I told you we ought have loaned Natasha to them."

The Order meeting eventually started and it was chaotic as usual. Kingsley and Tonks were holding fort at the Auror's office (or whatever was left of it), trying to convince everyone that they needed to step up their search of Pettigrew and also conduct raids of suspected Death Eaters' houses like Malfoy, Nott and Avery. Dumbledore was also having Arthur, Sturgis and Hestia take shifts keeping an eye on the entrance to the Department of Mysteries. He knew he'd have to get Leila to go get it and destroy it soon but he wanted her to settle down some more before she heard the entire prophecy.

Moody had retired in this reality and had chosen to stay retired even though he had been a ctive Auror in the other reality because he wanted to devote all his energies on tracking Voldemort's movements rather than waste his time at the mess that was the fallen Ministry.

Remus had been trying to gain contact with the werewolves, who were getting back with mixed responses. Under the guidance of Fenrir Greyback, they had grown vicious and were bigger outcasts than they were in the other reality where they'd been given a free reign by Voldemort. It wasn't endearing them to any anti-Voldemort movement.

Hagrid was charting out a travel plan with Madame Maxime to locate the giants and attempt a negotiation.

Gideon, Frank, Alice and Cedric were reaching out to prominent purebloods who were neutral or on their side, trying to get them to step up their presence in the Ministry to enable them to set up a new government.

Bill was pulling his weight with all his Gringotts contacts around the world, trying to sow resistance movements in other countries and warn them. Charlie was also doing his bit in the Balkans, trying to build up an order membership in the region.

James was trying to manage all their logistics and simultaneously develop a contingency battle plan. Lily was using her Healer connections to keep an eye on the traffic in St Mungo's, listening out for suspicious conversation and also working on medic supply routes and trying to gather an emergency response team in the event of a battle.

Sirius, along with Moody, chose to patrol Azkaban. He'd pointed out that he was used to Dementors and now, they had less of an effect on him with James and Lily being alive. He had also, reluctantly, started sorting through the Black family estates to affirm that he did have complete control over Grimmauld Place, as that was most likely to be the official HQ in due time.

James knew that Sirius hated the idea and offered to repair Godric's Hollow and start adding on additional security measures to use it as HQ but everyone talked him down. Nobody had the heart to tell him just how badly damaged it was nor did they want him and Lily to see the memorials around the house. They weren't sure it'd do their state of mind any good and would just serve as an additional reminder of the life their daughter had to live without them.

Dumbledore was at the forefront at his efforts at the Ministry. He was constantly waylaid by a blustering Cornelius Fudge who was determined to hold on to his office, all the influential hardline pureblood families as well as a large portion of the population still struggling with the consequences of the colliding realities.

His only hope at the moment was to ensure that if they couldn't get one of their people to head the rebuilding, then he could atleast keep the stalemate going to keep men like Yaxley from getting the top job. It was a horrible, political nightmare and Dumbledore was exhausted. He was already unhappy that he couldn't spend more time with Leila or actively seek out Voledmort. After hearing Remus recount her tale of that night at the graveyard, he had been in complete awe of the girl and he worried about her even more.

There was another Order member who was actively working as a curse breaker and potions supplier, having lost his position of spy due to his treachery being revealed in the other reality and consequently being killed by Voldemort himself. Severus Snape finally found common ground with Leila Potter in that both of them were very keen to avoid all the people in the castle. He stayed locked up in his dungeon, unwilling to go up and deal with anyone.

His heart hammered painfully just thinking about it. _She was here!_ His Lily, his true love, his only love, was alive and well. But she knew what he was now. A traitor. A spy. He'd been the reason she lost her daughter in one reality and her own life in the other.

But his soul stirred at the thought that she was a few floors above, her dark red hair gleaming against the grey castle walls, her green eyes flashing with laughter or annoyance, her lips curling into a beautiful smile every time her damned husband made a joke...

_She's alive, She's alive, She's alive... _

His blood sang for her and it was like having his heart rubbed with sandpaper. It scrubbed away the grit, grime and filth, laying it bare in its fresh, bright state. It felt like redemption. But by Hades, _it hurt. _

She was here and he could never lay eyes on her, let alone have her.

And only he was to blame.

But_, she's alive, she's alive, she's alive _and her laugh rang in his ears and for that, he would bleed and suffer in silence.

He'd known a world without her and this existence was better than that. Any existence was better than that.

He'd been sweeping down the corridor from the Slytherin Common Room to the Dungeons when he heard footsteps. He frowned lightly, wondering who it was. He stopped short at the sight in front of him. Standing near the entrance to the kitchens were Neville Longbottom, a little girl and Leila Potter. They stared up at the painting that served as entrance to the kitchens looking up as he approached. Neville's eyes went wide with undisguised fear as he ducked behind Leila. Blissfully, the painting of the bowl of fruits swung open. He ran in, dragging Natasha after him. Leila gestured for them to carry on and turned to Snape with an unreadable expression. The portrait swung close.

It used to be so easy for him to say something snide at the sight of her. But she had changed. And so had he. And they were both too beaten down by life at the moment to muster sarcastic comments.

They stared at each other. Then Snape decided to just walk away. He passed by her and she said quietly, "I always had a feeling you were one of Voldemort's, atleast to begin with. What I would've never guessed was that _you_ were the one who told him about the prophecy that got him hunting down my parents, as well as Neville's."

He froze, his blood turning cold. She knew. He turned to stare at her, his face blank. He waited for her to start hurling abuses, curses, spew venom. She, however, just looked at him.

Unnerved by her lack of anger, he stepped closer, his eyes glinting. "What do you want, Potter? An apology?"

She calmly said, "Why did you beg for my mother's life? Why would you dare to negotiate with Voldemort over a woman who didn't love you anymore?"

He stayed stock still, his blood turning to ice. He stared at her, for the first time lost for words. Of all the people who he thought he would find himself questioned by, he'd least expected it to be Leila Potter.

She finally looked away and said quietly, "Your mad hatred of me and my father makes a little more sense now."

He continued to stare at her, the ground beneath him falling away. She turned back to the portrait. He suddenly found himself speaking out loud, "I didn't know he would go after them."

"I know."

"I would do anything to go back and undo what I did."

"I know what its like to feel responsible for the death of someone you love, Professor." she said quietly. She tickled the pear and the portrait swung open and she disappeared inside.

Severus Snape stood there, staring at the painting long after she'd gone.

Neville, Natasha and Leila managed to stay clear of everybody else and spent a very enjoyable afternoon with Hagrid who had taken an instant liking to the little girl. The feeling was mutual. She fell in love with Fang and insisted he show her all the other 'funny creatures' he had. Hagrid was only too happy to oblige.

"She makes up for my spinelessness, doesn't she?" asked Neville, fondly.

Leila rolled her eyes. "Are you fishing for a compliment, stating how marvelous and brave you are? Because I'm in the mood to leave that hanging and let you wallow in your self pity."

Neville laughed. "I wouldn't say no to an ego boost but honestly, Leila, I don't mind. I've long made peace with the fact that I'm the plant loving, clumsy wizard."

"How very zen of you."

Neville smiled sadly. "Year after year of going to St Mungo's and looking at my parents' empty faces has kind of left me with a reality check on heroics. Now seeing them back... I dunno, I think Natasha helps. I'm not sure I could've handled it otherwise. It's strange. There was not a day in my life that I didn't wish they'd return but now that they have, it just feels... I mean, I'm so happy, obviously. But it feels..."

"...Like you've been cheated out of a different life? Like they've returned too late? Like you're already too hardened and too damaged to be anyone's little baby? "

Neville nodded and sighed. "Yeah. I'm not the son I would've been if they'd raised me. I don't think I have it in me to pretend to be him either."

"Ditto."

"Does this make us bad people? I mean, this craziness had destroyed so many lives, brought the magical community to its knees, but it's given _us_ a second chance and we're standing here, cribbing about it?"

"Each to his own." responded Leila.

They both watched Hagrid and Natasha peering at a pair of Nifflers, quietly, enjoying each other's company, glad to have finally found someone who understood.

When evening finally fell, Hagrid insisted that they all go to the Great Hall for dinner with the rest of the Order. Leila already started charting out her escape route but Neville grabbed her arm and said quietly, "I know it's awful of me to ask after what you've been through... But please stay for dinner. You, me and Tash can pick a corner seat and ignore the looks. I can't take being stared at and having everyone fuss over me alone. Please?"

Leila sighed and nodded. Meeting the Order members was inevitable and she would rather do it with Neville next to her as he'd take some of the attention off her as the other not-dead-anymore child that Voldemort murdered.

The four of them walked back to the castle, with Hagrid leading the way, Natasha on his shoulders, laughing and chattering away. As they entered the Great Hall, everyone looked up and greeted both of them. Neville and Leila had pretty much hidden behind Hagrid's bulk and dead silence fell across the Hall as both of them quietly slipped out from behind him and grabbed the seats closest to the exit, putting a good few chairs between them and the Order members closest to them.

Neville gave her a look that said, _"I've changed my mind. Let's go."_

But Dumbledore cheerfully called out to them. "Neville, Leila, welcome aboard." Both of them nodded quietly at him, their discomfort showing in their faces.

Dumbledore smiled and said, "Don't worry. Everyone will stop being rude when the food pops up, which should be any minute now."

His words seemed to have jerked everyone out of their staring. Tonks got up and plopped down next to Leila, wearing a grin. "Hiya! Yes I know you cleverly picked these seats to avoid us, but I'm annoyingly uncaring about such things. I'm Tonks! I'm an Auror and was one back in the other reality too."

Leila couldn't help but grin. There was something about Tonks that put her at ease immediately. She held out her hand and said, "Leila Potter. This is Neville Longbottom. And I love the pink hair!"

Tonks beamed. "So do I!" She turned and started pointing out all the Order members, each of them waving to both Leila and Neville with broad smiles on their faces.

"That's Kingsley Shacklebolt, also an Auror and my boss; That's Moody, you know him. Or not. That was Crouch, wasn't it? And that's Hestia Jones, Sturgis Podmore, Dedalus Diggle... They all work for the Ministry. Or at least they used to. Not really sure what we're all working for anymore. We just check into the building and enjoy the show there. Arthur and Bill Weasley have gone home. And you obviously know the rest!" She waved over their parents, Sirius, Remus, McGonagall, Gideon and Cedric.

Leila kept her eyes firmly averted from the entire left side of the table and smiled at the others. She didn't even accidentally want to glimpse Cedric or Sirius.

Thankfully, the food appeared. Leila and Neville breathed a sigh of relief and reached for the bread. Tonks stayed with them for the rest of the dinner, showing off her metamorphagous abilities. Natasha joined them too and they managed to form a nice tucked away corner, isolated from the rest of the Order. Relaxing, Leila found herself laughing openly. Her abdomen hurt from the effort and she stopped immediately, wincing and clutching her sides, trying to hold in her hiss of pain. The pain was unbearable. Tonks frowned at a bit but didn't say anything for which Leila was infinitely grateful. She had no idea that practically everyone at the table was watching her closely and all of them caught her wince of pain and that she stopped eating after that.

Finally, she could hear everyone murmur in low tones, making quiet conversation. Leila caught bits of it. Half of them had nights shifts and the other half wanted to work on something else that she didn't catch. She wished she had the extendable ears on her.

Neville and his family headed off, not wanting to leave Augusta alone for the night as did Kinsgley, Tonks, Sturgis, Dedalus and Hestia. Leila jumped up too, having no intention of being stuck here by herself with the portion of the Order that she least wanted to interact with. They were looking at her expectantly and she wanted to just get out.

And that's when it happened. A blinding pain shot through her skull and she dropped the glass she was holding. It crashed to the floor and everyone stared at her.

It was like the time at the graveyard. Her head felt like it was being sliced open and pulled apart and she fell to her knees, the hand not clutching her scar smashing against the broken glass. She didn't even notice because her head was exploding.

_A high, manic laughter sounded in her ears. He felt like celebrating. It was time to begin. They had rested long enough. Azkaban was theirs and so were the inmates. _

_He laughed and laughed and laughed. And Leila felt the chill in her bones. _

Her eyes snapped open and she found herself looking at James' terrified expression. Dumbledore was also kneeling by his side, vanishing the glass and looking at her in alarm.

"He's happy..." she choked. "He's really, really happy..."

"Who? Leila, what happened?"

"Voldemort... Azkaban... It belongs to him..."

"Leila, honey, you're making no sense-" began James, but Dumbledore held up his hand to stop him. He looked at Leila who was still struggling to see from the pain that was receding slowly.

"Azkaban? He's in Azkaban?"

Leila nodded, squeezing her eyes shut. Just then, a bright silver lynx materialized in the Great Hall. Kingsley's voice resonated around the room. "Azkaban has been taken over. The Death Eaters are free."


	18. Chapter 18

Their patronuses glided around them, as they all struggled to keep the Dementors at bay while trying to keep hold of the prisoners they had recaptured.

James yelled across to Sirius, "We can't all have out patronuses out. It's draining us. One for every two of us! I'm dropping mine, cover me!"

Sirius nodded and moved next to James. Around him, the others paired off too.

The reduced number of patronuses drew the Dementors closer to them, but still kept them at bay.

"Move to the eastern coast!" bellowed Mad Eye. "If they escape, that'll be their way out!"

"Mad Eye's right!" said Sirius, "It's the only place on the island where the sea doesn't collide into the rocks roughly. That's how I got out too!"

They ran through the dull stone walkway around the fort, fighting against the lashing rain and the Dementors hot on their heels.

A group of people were waiting for them at the end. It was the Aurors and a few more members of the Magical Law enforcement. They nodded at one another and proceeded to the coast.

A few silhouettes could be seen near the water.

"Stupefy!" all of them yelled. Two of them were hit and the others realized they were being tailed and rushed into the water, ploughing through the waves.

Jame sreached the stunned prisoner first. It wasn't someone he recognized. He felt a sharp blow to his side and realized someone he did recognize was bearing down on him, his eyes wild.

"Rosier" snarled James. He aimed his wand at him but he dodged out of his way, only to be tackled to the ground by Kingsley.

Around them, smaller fights had broken out, easily quelled due to the prisoners' lack of wands.

Soon enough, Rosier and a few of the prominent Death Eaters along with other criminals had been rounded up. It was easier than they'd expected as none of the prisoners were in any state to fight nor could they have escaped. It made them all uneasy. Why break into Azkaban at all?

Rufus Scrimgeour, the Head of the Aurors, shouted across to Dumbledore, "Where the hell are we keeping them? Too dangerous to put them at the holding in the Ministry!"

"Let's take them to the holding in Carlisle. It should suffice till we find a safer place."

There was a small holding fort in Carlisle that was heavily guarded and was used as a transfer point for international prisoners and a pre-Azkaban stop point. It was also Dementor free.

They all side-apparated with the prisoners and Scrimgeour authorized the opening of the doors. Throwing them into separate, high security cells and paced additional wards and charms around individual holding locations.

Scrimgeour, the other Aurors and a few more ministers re convened with the Order, looking grim.

"Dumbledore, we need the Ministry back on its feet. You Know Who has broken his silence. God knows how many of them managed to escape..."

"Any idea who the missing ones are?" asked James, tersely.

"The Carrows, all three Lestranges, Hadrian Nesbeth, Mulciber..."

"Essentially, the most vicious of the lot. Voldemort would've ensured their getaway." said Lily grimly.

"It also explains why none of the Death Eaters were there when we got to Azkaban. They were way ahead of us and left us with clean up work. Most of the lot we caught today were tier two prisoners and Death Eaters who Voldemort would've considered dispensable." said Frank with a groan.

"Scrimgeour is right. We need a ministry, now. If Voldemort's declared war, he can take over easily if we don't have some sort of..." said Kingsley.

"Some sort of government to actually take over from? We are essentially sittings ducks." agreed Dawlish. "Hell, I could go declare myself Prime Minister for the effect it'll have. No one knows what's going on anyway."

"Fudge is being an utter and complete arse! He was useless even during peacetime. Who the hell even wants him in charge anyway?" asked Tonks in exasperation.

"Nobody." said Cedric slowly. "Maybe it's time to force him out..."

Everyone stared at him.

"A coup?" asked Remus, looking thoughtful.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but if that's what it takes, let's do it." said Scrimgeour, looking grimly enthused.

That night, the Cornelius Fudge found himself surrounded by the Order of the Phoenix and the Aurors, politely asking him to remove himself from the building. He was finally dragged off and he screamed about treason all the way out.

Dumbledore nodded at Scrimgeour. "Well Minister, I trust you can recreate an advisory board by tomorrow. I'll have the senior Wizengamot members headed by Madam Bones draft out an order to make this interim government official."

"Tomorrow is going to be hell. The entire section of the Ministry that's headed by dicks like Malfoy is going to shut down. And let's face it, we just delivered a blow to democracy." sighed Tonks.

"Trim the Ministry down. Time to clean it up." Dumbledore told him grimly.

Scrimgeour nodded in affirmation. "Right then, Kingsley, you're heading the Aurors now and that's the only division that needs recruiting. I'm looking at you." he added, directing a very pointed gaze at Sirius, Frank, Alice and James. "We're desperately short of qualified Aurors and now we've got Dementors on the loose as well..."

Sirius and James looked at each other . James nodded as did Sirius, although the latter was more reluctant. He still wasn't impressed with the Ministry's treatment of him but he resigned himself to the fact that times had changed. Frank and Alice frowned. "I don't think our pysch evaluation is 100%." said Alice regretfully.

"We have plenty of desk work and strategising to be done." said Kinsley reassuringly. "You don't have to be on field."

Frank and Alice brightened up and nodded.

Scrimgeour turned to Sturgis and said, "Can you handle the Muggle prime minister? He'll be more willing to cooperate if someone who actually shows an awareness of their kind interacts with them. And see if you can place some of our people in their law enforcement. It'll be dead useful to keep our ear to the ground."

Dumbledore turned to Lily and said, "Maybe it's time for you to go mainstream as well. Reintegrate yourself with the Healers, start working there again. Now we'll actually need all hands on deck and you're the only one who really understands efficient quick response and rehabilitation from dark curses. This world doesn't have the capacity for that because of our long, peaceful stint."

They all looked at one another grimly. They had now officially taken over and challenged Voldemort. The war had begun.

Leila couldn't remember ever having lived a longer night in her life. It easily surpassed all the terrible ones where she was punished unreasonably and locked inside the cupboard without dinner when she was a child.

She wandered aimlessly around the lake, trying not to think about how the Order was probably faring right now in their battle over Azkaban. Kingsley's patronus had sent them all into battle mode and every single person disappeared, rushing to Azkaban to try and stave off the invading Death Eaters and round up the prisoners who wouldn't have gotten far. That was over five hours ago.

She stared restlessly at the still surface of the water trying to think about something else that didn't involve imagining her parents' or Sirius and Remus' or anybody else's dead bodies. She moved onto the next disturbing thought. Her access to Voldemort's mind. It was going to kill her, that she was sure of. The pain was blinding and it incapacitated her when it happened. And not to mention that he might start looking into her mind if he realized there was a way in.

She felt nauseous at the thought of her being a large liability to the Order, hanging around the HQ, suddenly prone to possession and murdering on Voldemort's behalf. And she knew she wasn't the only one thinking it either. For a split second after Kingsley's patronus had delivered its message, she had looked up to see everyone staring at her in shock and ... something else when they realized she had foreseen it.

She could feel Voldemort in her veins now and it make her want to tear her skin away and dismember herself till what whatever of him in her would die and she could have that satisfaction.

She had unconsciously moved to the edge of the forest and looked into the deep, dark woods. She had a mad urge to go in there, disappear forever. Instead, she was stuck worrying, unable to fight what was her battle anyway and trying not think about her parents being injured or hurt. She couldn't think that atleast when they were dead, she knew they were safe, in a manner of speaking. Not much left to do to a corpse, was there?

She wondered if Neville or Mrs Weasley felt that way too, if they were sitting up and trying not to think about Frank and Alice or Gideon out there in battle, wondering if they'd have to lose them all over again.

'_I need to fight. I need to do something, anything. These fools are coddling me like a child. I need to train, I need to sort out this connection with Voldemort...'_

She rubbed her eyes tiredly, looked up at the stars and desperately wished for a solution.

It turned out to be one of those fortunate nights when the Universe actually granted wishes made upon a star.

She heard someone move behind her. She spun around, whipping her wand out, a curse ready at the tip of her tongue. Her jaw dropped in shock. Of all the things she had been expecting, this was not it.

Severus Snape looked at her and then at her wand with mild disdain. She slowly lowered it and turned away. She was not in the mood for a verbal tirade with Snape. However, he seemed to have other ideas.

"Potter, I see you're not fighting. It must be strange for you to be on this side of the line."

Leila knew he was goading her and she stayed silent.

"Well, I suppose it's alright now that Mummy and Daddy are here to jump up and protect their wee princess Potter..."

"And you don't need to get out of your underground lair and do anything because you've found yourself a good excuse to hide. What is the purpose of your existence anymore, Professor?" she said coldly, knowing that her new found knowledge about him served for very nasty comebacks.

Snape's eyes flashed dangerously and he loomed over, looking like he might pull his wand out on her.

She just snorted and said, "Touched a nerve, have I? Good. You need a taste of your own medicine every now and then, _sir_."

They stared at each other, refusing to be the first look away. Usually, Leila lost these contests and sure enough, she was the first to look away. She suspected even Voldemort would lose a staring contest with Snape.

He said, "So, baby Potter wants to help but everyone's got you wrapped up in rolls of suffocating wool have they?"

She sighed and said, "I really wish you wouldn't do that."

"Do what?"

"The whole mind reading thing you seem to have going. It was creepy enough when it was just you but now Voldemort's doing it too. Is there no respect for the sanctity of anyone else's mind anymore?"

"The Dark Lord has been reading your thoughts?"

"More like I have an access pass for his. Knowing my luck, it'll be a matter of time before he returns the favour."

"Shouldn't you be a bit more worried about this?"

"Not much I can do about it."

Snape was looking at her speculatively. Leila frowned at him. "What?"

"Occlumency." he said.

"Occlu-what?"

Snape gave her a look of deep disgust. "Occlumency is the art of blocking attacks on your mind."

"There's a thing like that? Why the hell hasn't anyone told me?"

"It's a rare talent and can only be acquired with rigorous practice."

"I have plenty of time and resolve. There aren't any books on this, are they?"

Snape looked at her with an unreadable expression and finally said, "As it happens, Potter, I'm an accomplished Occlumens."

"Good for you. Is there a point or did you just want to brag?"

"Don't get snide with me. I'm offering help."

"And this is because you signed up to be a boy scout? Boy scouts are a muggle-"

"I know what a boy scout is. I'm not actively working for the Order, it doesn't look like school is going to reopen anytime soon with everything that's going on, and I need a ... what did you call it?... oh yes, a purpose."

"And that purpose is teaching me Occlumency? You really are bored, aren't you?"

"Or just in need of a challenge. Trying to get anything to penetrate that thick skull of yours should try my patience and abilities enough to make me want to go back to having a purposeless life."

She looked at him, clearly unconvinced. His lips thinned and he added quietly, "Not much else I can do to help, can I? You're not the only one up this late wondering who's going to come back in a body bag again." His face was expressionless but she had never heard him sound like this before, almost human.

Leila exhaled and nodded. "Deal."

He turned around and swept away, leaving Leila wondering whether Snape was being completely honest about his reasons for helping. The man _detested _her.

As it turned out, Snape was more or less truthful but he did leave out one other important reason.

He couldn't resist being the one Leila Potter turned to for help because he knew how much it'd infuriate James Potter. And even after all these years, Severus Snape would do anything to pay him back for all the hell and if that meant getting one up over him with his own daughter, so be it.

'_You took my Lily, now your Leila will consider me an ally. I hope that twists a knife in your gut, Potter because Merlin knows, it's long overdue.'_

She wasn't sure how long she'd sat under the tree pondering because at some point, her exhaustion took over and she fell asleep. She woke up as the weak morning light filtered through and her boots glistened with morning dew.

'_Please tell me they're back...'_ She got up and sprinted to the castle, her fingers crossed tightly in her pockets. She slowed down when she heard voices inside the castle. She stopped outside and shut her eyes tightly and listened intently. She heard Remus, James, Lily, Mad Eye, Gideon, Dumbledore and finally, Sirius. She heaved a sigh of relief. They were back and alive and the weight of the night lifted. Propelled by giddy joy, she took a step forward but stopped short on hearing her name.

"... He could be possessing her!... Albus, this is madness!..."

"... And she was in terrible pain... I don't care what the implications are, but this has to be stopped!..."

"... She shouldn't be privy to all this anyway... She's a child..."

"... In her head?... The bastard is in her fucking head? How can you be so calm, Albus?"

"... we don't say anything about this to her. We find a solution..."

"... don't you dare talk to her... No, she need not be involved. We find a solution without her knowing. A shield maybe?"

Leila's good mood drained out of her as she heard their conversation. Her blood pounded in her ears and she clenched her teeth. '_How dare they? How dare they talk about me like I'm some oddity? Like I'm a child? Do these arseholes have any idea what it's like to be me? Do they even comprehend the agonizing pain I'm in when I access his mind? Don't tell me what? I'm part of this war, you morons!'_

Some part of Leila tried to reason with her, point out that for the first time in her life, people wanted to protect her. But she was so enraged at them, at being spoken about like she was some sort of helpless child. It was insulting. She was the one who'd come out of every encounter with Voldemort alive, not them. Her hunger, fatigue and the night of restless worrying only magnified her rage and the stabbing pains inside her body made her unreasonably paranoid. She wanted so badly to feel stronger and angrier and they were giving her a reason, valid or not. She knew at some level that the intensity of her anger was unjustified but she was so sick of feeling vulnerable, out of control and hurting that she was willing to be angry with anyone, reckless about anything. Right now, she just wanted to be Leila fucking Potter, Voldemort thrasher and independent warrior who didn't fucking whine and needed to be protected by anyone.

All her lingering misgivings about her lessons with Snape vanished. _'You lot do what you have to and I'll do what I think needs to be done.'  
_

She swallowed her anger and her poker face slipping back on. She stepped in calmly and leaned against the door frame and watched them quietly. However angry she was, she couldn't stop the rush of gratitude for the fact that they all looked alright and her eyes softened as it swept over them. Dumbledore was the first to notice her and he looked relieved.

"Leila! Where have you been?"

"Waiting for you lot outside. Fell asleep. Is everyone okay?"

"We're all good." James assured her, his eyes softening at the sight of her. He walked up to her till he was in front of her. He hesitantly raised his hands to her cheeks, pausing at her stiffening posture. He wouldn't have dared to try this yesterday but the night had been violent and exhausting and to come back to find Leila waiting for them tore down his caution. He gently cupped her face between his large hands and looked down at her, his eyes warm pools of hazel. He pressed his lips on her forehead and gently pulled her frozen body to his, his arms slipping down till they were wrapped around her tightly.

Leila felt all her righteous anger and frustration disappear. Her defenses had not been prepared for this, to be held in her father's warm, loving, strong arms and involuntarily her body relaxed even if her mind was screaming at her to pull away and run all the way to the North Pole. James, encouraged by her loosening limbs, hugged her tighter and whispered, "It's okay, sweetheart. We're all okay."

Leila found her arms going around him and she awkwardly hugged him back, praying that he'd let her go before she began bawling like a sentimental old lady. Her self respect was already shredded by her pathetic weeping the last few days and she didn't want to sink any lower.

James laughed softly into her hair and said, "Merlin, the last time I held you, you were a baby...Now you're up to my shoulders, all grown up but I swear, you still feel the same." His voice wavered and Leila knew that she needed to take control and pull away. The only thing worse than her having a breakdown was James having one and she didn't think she had it in her to watch him start tearing up.

She gently tried to step away but James wouldn't have any of it and he just held her in a suffocating grip that Leila couldn't break out of unless she wanted to break a few of his or her limbs. She peeked over his shoulder, intending to signal to Remus to help but the Great Hall was empty. Everyone had clearly made themselves scarce to allow her and James to have their perceived father-daughter moment in privacy.

She started to say something but realized she had no idea how to address him to his face. "Erm... Da-Jam- uh...Mr Potter?" '_MISTER POTTER? Really, Leila? Are you INSANE?'_

James' body froze and he slowly pulled away, looking aghast. Leila wanted to bang her head on the wall behind her till her skull cracked and her brain matter oozed out, rendering her forever incapable of speech. They both stared at each other, Leila struggling to find something to say to make it better. But her overworked, fatigued head could muster nothing and she just stared at him, hoping her expression conveyed how sorry she was. If James's look of horror was anything to go by, her face wasn't as expressive as she'd hoped.

He slowly stepped back.

'_No, No stop, please.. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...' _Leila thought desperately but her tongue refused to voice it out loud.

She stood there for a long time staring blankly at the empty hall, well after James had quietly disappeared in the general direction of the Gryffindor Tower.

'_Sometimes, I really think if Voldemort Cruciatoed me to death, all his evil will be nullified and he'd be awarded entry through the pearly white gates of heaven.'_

Leila went to the Gryffindor Tower, half hoping she'd find James there and half hoping it'd be empty. No one was there so she went up with a heavy heart for a shower. She stayed there for well over an hour then finally dragged herself out. She finally trudged down to the Common Room and found Remus there. He smiled up at her and she returned his smile weakly.

"Where's everybody?" she asked haltingly.

"They've left for work."

"Work?"

They walked to breakfast together, Remus filling her in on what happened last night.

"I thought everyone wanted to stay out of sight!" she exclaimed.

"Yes but seeing as we overthrew whatever semblance of government there was, I think we're also responsible to ensure stability. So we're going to have to integrate with the system."

"You're the only one with full time Order work now?"

"Yes. You're looking at the new deputy Head of the Order of the Phoenix. I'll be taking point and running things from the HQ."

"Congrats!"

He smiled sadly at her. "Not like I had job offers like the rest of them..."

"Their loss." said Leila firmly. His smile grew wider and he squeezed her hand in appreciation.

They had a quiet, peaceful breakfast together and Remus stayed clear of any questions he might have had about her moment with James. His friend had come back with a stormy expression and had left quietly, alerting Remus to the fact that the impromptu show of affection might have not ended well.

Leila finally put her fork down and looked at Remus carefully. "It sounds like you could use some man power... The Order is running short of hands-"

"No." said Remus firmly. Leila frowned, staring down at her plate. '_You're leaving me with no choice but to go to Snape.'_ she thought grimly. She stood up and smiled at Remus softly and said, "I'll be off, staying out of your way."

He smiled back. "It'll be just me for lunch. Please come down and give me company. It was nice to see you eating finally."

She cautiously made her way to the dungeon, feeling like she was heading to the guillotine.

She found Snape there, looking characteristically cold. The dungeon door shut behind her, blocking her only exit.

Over the next couple of days, a routine was formed. Everybody sans Remus, left for work early. Leila had breakfast with him and then headed to the dungeons for Occlumency with Snape. After lunch with Remus again, she'd head to the Library and begin browsing defense spells and making notes. In the evening, she'd practice them in the Astronomy Tower. At night, she'd either have dinner at the kitchens or with Hagrid, sometimes joined by Tonks who seemed to have taken an enormous liking to her and Leila didn't mind as the feeling was mutual.

The nights were still terrible and haunted and her failing Occulemncy lessons only making her mind more vulnerable to nightmares and Voldemort's thoughts. But Snape had irritably told her that it was normal and that it was up to her to practice and empty her mind before going to sleep.

The classes themselves were disastrous, with her having no luck whatsoever and essentially allowing Snape to have a free pass through her torrid memories. He seemed to particularly enjoy Aunt Marge's visits.

But overall, the feeling of purpose setting in, a regimented existence and her appetite returning to normal, Leila felt truly calm for the first time since the night at the graveyard. She was still avoiding Cedric and her parents and the rest of the Order, not to mention that her fight with Sirius was still ongoing, but it leveled her out and cleared her head.

After that disastrous morning, she stayed out James' way and it seemed like he was trying to do the same. It wasn't that she didn't want to be around him but it was obvious he had been terribly hurt and she had no idea how to fix it. By avoiding him, she automatically ended up not seeing Lily either, which bothered her because her mum was quite easy to be with and seemed to know how to steer clear of emotional landmines around her, as if she knew what would set Leila off.

Things with Sirius had gone from bad to worse, his initial remorse dissolving into desperation because of her determination not to be anywhere near him. He tried cornering her every time he returned from work but she had gotten good at evading him and always carried her invisibility cloak. It was only Remus she could stand being around anymore. Her newly acquired stability was still fragile and couldn't hold up under prolonged emotional stress and everybody else were pretty much fell under high pressure points.

A week into her new found normalcy, Leila decided to go the Quidditch pitch after dinner at Hagrid's. She mounted her broom and flew around for an hour, practicing her maneuvers, wondering if she'd ever play for Gryffindor again. The way things were going, it didn't look like school would ever reopen. As she flew over the goal posts, she spotted another shadow on a broom, hovering near the fourth castle tower.

Her guard immediately up, she pulled out her wand and pointed it at the lurking shadow. The figure appeared to raise its hands and slowly drifted into the moonlight. It was Cedric.

Leila slowly lowered her wand, a lump forming in her throat.

She stayed still on her broom, focusing on the angry scar down the side of his face that made him look less like Cedric. Her heart slowly normalized and she refused to cave to the instinct to run.

After what she did with James, all her anger and her right to feel defensive felt a little less justified.

Just as James hadn't deserved her moment of madness, Cedric didn't deserve to have her run every time she caught sight of him. It was not his fault that his counterpart was dead and he wasn't.

Encouraged by her staying where she was, Cedric inched closer, till both their brooms were side by side.

Finally, he spoke. "I was just watching you fly. I didn't mean to spy... I just came up here to relieve some stress and I saw you... You're really good."

Leila felt a rush of pride at his words. "Thanks." she mumbled.

"Who taught you to fly?" he asked, curious.

"No one. I sort of just picked it up."

"That's really impressive. Your Dad taught me, although he claimed I was a natural."

"You were really good here as well. You captained the Hufflepuff team. The only Seeker that ever bested me was you."

"Really? I always thought I was that good back in my reality only because Mr Potter pretty much taught me everything. Your Dad is a brilliant player!"

Leila wondered if her melancholy was reflected in her face. She'd give anything to be a small child again, with James teaching her to fly. Nobody taught her anything. She'd always learnt on her own. She'd walked on her own, run on her own, she'd learnt to read on her own, learnt to ride a bike on Dudley's old cycle in secret on her own, she'd learn to throw her first, desperate punch on her own, she'd learnt to make sarcastic jokes on her own, to hide her feelings and she'd stumbled into the magic world and had never quite fit in, with no one to really guide her. She was always on her own.

Cedric spoke up again, cutting into her melancholy silence.

"He could never talk about you. None of them could. But your photos were all over the house. Your room is exactly the same as it was the night you'd been murdered. They kept you there with them, holding on to you. But they never talked about you. When we found out about the Gaea Diatromi, your dad... Well, we didn't know they were all dead at first and all he could think about was whether he was a good father here and whether you made the Quidditch team because he obviously would've coached you everything."

Leila looked away, her eyes prickling. "You must think I'm a terrible person, for they way I've been acting. But... I don't know how to deal with any of this. I don't know how to be their daughter."

"I don't think you're terrible at all. I completely understand. My parents were murdered a year ago."

Leila looked at him, into those eyes she loved so much. "I'm so sorry..."

He smiled sadly at her. "I thought this would be a second chance. But it's not easy, for me or my parents. I'm not entirely _him._ And they're not the same either, especially dad. It's tough... It's why I stay at the castle and not at home with them."

Leila looked at his wistful face and it was like the scar on his face didn't exist. His blue eyes, his gentle smile, the way he held himself and his soft, reasonable voice... He was so very Cedric. And as always, he appeared to be the only one apart from Remus and Hermione who truly understood her.

She hesitantly touched his lips with her fingers. His eyes widened slightly but he didn't move.

"You are him. You just don't have his memories or his open demeanor because you were raised in the midst of a war. But I swear, right now, everything about you is him." Her voice was so soft, she was almost speaking to herself, thinking out loud.

His eyes closed and he exhaled slowly as her fingers lightly traced his lips. She was entranced and her pain and anguish shuffled to the background as she looked at him.

'_Minutes... a matter of minutes and you'd have still been mine...'_

Cedric opened his eyes and looked at her, his eyes boring into hers.

"I am still him. You said so yourself."

Leila started. She hadn't realized she had voiced her thought out loud. She withdrew her hand, feeling out of breath, very confused and guilty.

Cedric seemed to the change in her mood. A desperately pleading expression crossed his face and he caught her retreating hand and pulled it back to his lips. He softly kissed her palm and brushed his lips over her fingers.

"I loved you even before I met you." he told her softly. "I'd dream about you, about us and I'd wonder who you were."

Leila stared at him wide eyed, her heart hammering. "Please don't.." she pleaded with him

"And then I found out and all I could think was how your dad was going to murder me."

Leila let out a choked sob-laugh.

"I longed for you... So very much. You were mine and I was yours even before I'd properly seen you. I still long for you..."

Before she could stop him, he'd pulled her to him and pressed his lips to hers, urgently.

He tasted like Cedric. His scent was Cedric's. He_ was_ Cedric. And Leila found herself responding to his kiss, just as urgently. Her arms went around his neck and she opened her mouth for him. He moaned and swept his tongue in, his hands gripping her waist.

They forgot they were on their brooms and as their bodies moved close together, the front of their brooms collided. The sound startled Leila and she jerked away.

Horror, guilt and disgust settled over her. Cedric had died, his body collapsing over hers in a god forsaken graveyard and here she was, ready to replace him with his clone. She backed away, her eyes full of tears.

"Leila..." pleaded Cedric. "Please..."

"I can't do this... I'm so sorry."

She turned her broom and sped away from him, leaving him with his eyes full of wistful longing.

She ran up all the way to the Tower, partly blinded by her tears and cursing Cedric. She had just about started doing well and was starting to have control over her life and he had to come along and throw it all against the wall.

She stumbled in and to her dismay, found Sirius alone there.

He stared at her in worry and anguish.

"Leila?" he said softly, sounding pained.

She stared back at him and then smiled weakly. "I'm sorry for being mad at you."

He stared at her in astonishment then his eyes lit up and relief flooded his face. He jumped up and rushed to her, stopping only when he was right in front of her, his thumbs brushing away his tears.

"Oh honey, don't apologize. You had every right to be mad..." he whispered, pulling her to him and dropping soft kisses all over her face, frantically, his heart singing.

She shook her head, pulling away, looking miserable. "No, I don't. You were right about me."

Sirius froze, then straightened up, his face twisting in fury. He pushed her away from him.

"I don't want your forgiveness if it's because you've gotten it into your head that I was_ right_." he spat. "I was an absolute bastard for saying what I did and don't you _ever_ think that I was right!"

She backed away from him, her face unchanged. Sirius's fury abated and was replaced by concern as he looked at her. The part of him that was her godfather, the part of him that sat every year in the dusty baby room at Godric's Hollow mourning her, warred with his darker, angrier side, heart bleeding for the girl he'd fallen in love with the second he laid eyes on the bundle James had handed to him just after Lily had come out of labour.

He pulled her roughly back into the fold of his arms. "Talk to me... Please... You've been pushing me away ever since the night at the graveyard. It's killing me."

Leila buried her face in his chest and inhaled his scent and shook her head. Sirius sighed, picked her up easily and walked back to the armchair and settled her on his lap. "Fine, don't talk now if you don't want to. Just stay with me. I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too." she said in a small voice.

"Don't ignore me like that, ever again. Punch me to death if you have to, but don't you ever stay away from me. It's been hell." he whispered to her.

She smiled sadly and said, "Agreed."

Sirius exhaled in relief and buried his face in her long her, pressing her to him. It had been weeks since he'd been with her and finally, he felt a sense of homecoming. A nagging voice at the back of his head reminded him that she'd rushed in with tears and that something pretty uncomfortable must've happened, probably involving Cedric. He shoved the thought away, determined not to bring it up tonight. It had been too long not having her in his arms and he could deal with all else later.

Leila too, was similarly basking in his presence. She melted in his arms, her tears fading and feeling peace settle over her.

They stayed like that for a long time before Leila finally spoke, "How's work?"

He snorted. "Wow. That was a quick transition to mundane small talk."

"It's not mundane! You're working again after years! Well, one half of you anyway." She looked at him curiously, brushing his hair out of his face. "You're different."

"Good different or bad different?"

"I don't know. You look healthier, happier. But..."

"But?"

"I feel like I don't know the other you. As much an unreasonable idiot my Sirius is, he is still _my_ Sirius."

Sirius smiled at her and said, "I'll have you know, I'm a hundred percent yours. The part you don't know about spent his free time thumbing through your baby photos and moping in your old room or by your grave. Even in death, you had a hold over me, Prongs Junior."

They both silently pondered that. "My grave... So weird thinking about it." mumbled Leila.

"Lily and James didn't want you in the family plot at the cemetery Call it brilliantly blessed family luck but no Potter ever died before reaching their forties and you'd have been the first child in generations. It's weird and sentimental but we didn't want you stuck alone with a bunch of old coots. So we decided your final resting place should be in this small glen behind Godric's Hollow. You used to love that place, squealing away at the water and flowers." Sirius frowned and shuddered. It was hard to be so candid about it even when she was alive and in his arms at the moment.

"Sounds pretty. Do me a favour and bury me someplace nice like that this time around too." said Leila tiredly, leaning her head on his shoulder, fiddling with his robe fastenings.

Sirius had gone completely still. His arms around her had gone rigid and his fingers developed a death grip on her waist.

"_Don't you ever say something like that_." he snarled, looking furious. Leila started and tried to pull away but he pulled her tight to him, and hissed, "There will be no _this time_. You will not die! Do you hear me?"

Leila nodded and said, "I didn't mean it in a despondent, I'm-dying-tonight way. I just meant.. Never mind. Sorry." She snuggled back into his body as his arms relaxed.

She slowly drifted to sleep, listening to his heart beat and syncing her breathing to the slow rise and fall of his chest.

He leaned back and decided he might as well sleep as well. He had no intention of waking her up. She got too little sleep as it is. Just as he closed her eyes the portrait door opened and James and Lily climbed in. They looked at Sirius with a questioning expression. He just shook his head as if to say, 'Don't ask.' But a smile played on the fringes of his lips. Whatever had happened, it had atleast dissolved the fight between him and Leila. James and Lily couldn't help noticing how much like their Sirius he looked at the moment.

Lily knelt next to the armchair and brushed Leila's hair out of her face. "I thought she was getting better?" she asked Sirius softly.

"She was. Remus said she was faring well."

"What happened today?"

"Not a clue. She wouldn't talk about it. But she'll be okay. I'll get it out of her tomorrow."

Lily nodded, still worried.

Behind her James clenched his jaw and looked away. He knew he ought to feel happy that Leila had found family in Remus and Sirius. But he couldn't stop the green eyed monster rearing its head.

At the moment, he resented both of them for having spectacularly replaced him, especially Sirius at the moment, who had her in his arms around her and was occasionally pressing his lips to the top of her head, looking at her like she was a miracle.

Lily caught James' look and sighed internally. She knew what he was thinking and while she could perfectly empathize, feeling just as bad that Leila couldn't connect to them, she also thought James had been asking for it that day. It had been a bit excessive seeing as Leila was so muddled already. Although, Lily was forced to admit that she was selfishly glad it had been James and not her who made that mistake. She didn't think she'd have handled being called Mrs Potter by her own daughter very well either.

Leila woke up next morning feeling very disoriented and well rested. The sun was shining bright outside. She blinked at it. She was normally up before dawn everyday.

'_No nightmares...'_

She raised her head and found herself in Sirius's arms and felt warmth spread all the way down to her toes.

"Sleep well?" She blinked up at Lily who was sitting across from them.

"You're here? No work?" asked Leila, still a bit foggy.

"I've decided to work on a consulting capacity. I thought Remus could use a hand and I need the time to recreate emergency strategies." '_And spend time with you.'_

Like James, she had been terribly affected by their wildly fluctuating progress with Leila but unlike James she was willing to take it slow. But now she felt like she needed to be a bit more proactive, although she was careful not to let Leila see that.

"I see..." said Leila slowly, worry creeping on her.

Remus was too busy during the day and she could easily slip away to the dungeons and her self-training in advanced DADA afterwards. Now she was going to have to dodge Lily as well and she wasn't sure she wanted Snape and her mother to run into each other. As much as she had told herself it was none of her business what had transpired between her mother and him, choosing to think of it as a parallel of her own relationship with Blaise, she had to admit to herself that she was in no way going to ever actively help them get back on talking terms.

Leila and Snape still bit each other's head off but on the whole, their relationship was getting slightly better. But he was still _Snape_ and Leila hadn't yet reached the point where she could overlook his initial betrayal or the fact that he had been a gigantic git to her all these years.

Leila peeked up at Sirius who was still asleep. Lily smiled sadly at her. "You're not the only one who's been losing sleep."

"Poor Padfoot." Leila said sadly. "Things are looking that bad huh?"

"Remus is the only one holding fort here. The outside world is so messed up and the rest of us are trying to sort the mess that we seemed to have compounded by our coup. James didn't want to wake him this morning because he looked so peaceful but I think he has to go soon. Scrimgeour got some intel from France that they needed to follow up on. "

"I'll bet." Leila sighed and leaned back on his chest, not wanting wake him up.

"You're close to him..." ventured Lily, cautiously. She, unlike James, was unreservedly happy about her relationship with Sirius and Remus.

"Yeah. Sirius drives me mad but I don't know what I'd do without him. Poor Moony though, having to put up with both of us. He's my agony Aunt. It's the price he pays for being a prematurely wise old man."

Lily laughed softly. "He was always like that, even when we were all in school. He was the only Marauder I really liked."

Leila looked at her in surprise. "You didn't get along with...?"

Lily smiled at her. "It's a long story. James was... popular. And he enjoyed it a bit too much."

Leila's eyebrows shot up. "No way!"

Lily chuckled. "One day, I'll tell you the full story."

Leila smiled back quietly. "I'd like that."

Lily mentally patted herself on the back for managing an entire almost-normal conversation with Leila.

Leila glanced at her mother's hand. She was absently fiddling with what looked like a charm bracelet. Lily noticed what she was looking at and held it up. "It's Natasha's. I got her this for her sixth birthday and I've been her charm supplier ever since. I'm supposed to get her one every time she thinks something special has happened."

"That's nice." said Leila politely but she felt the acidic burn of envy churn in her stomach. First Cedric, now Natasha. It seemed like everyone got to be her replacement for either of her parents. Nobody ever got her bracelets or anything pretty. The first and only time had been the dress robes from Sirius and Remus and she had been fourteen at the time.

She struggled to brush away her irrational surge of bitter jealously but it was hard when she thought back to having Dudley's old shirt being tossed onto her face for her 8th birthday or Aunt Petunia irritably snapping at her for burning breakfast a few days after that, uncaring of the fact that she'd burnt her fingers as well.

Lily seemed to have sensed that her mood was dipping so she quickly held up the bracelet. "She wanted me to add something that would represent her two new siblings."

"Two? Oh... You mean _me_ as well?" Leila was taken aback, but her jealousy instantly vanished, replaced by a warm fluttering in her stomach.

Lily held up a silver charm that looked like a book. Leila raised her eyebrows. "Neville's been appointed her official nighttime story book reader. And this is you."

Leila looked at the tiny silver dragon and started laughing. "Oh Merlin, she's never going to let that go, is she?"

"I'm afraid not. She looks up to you already."

Leila's smile faded a bit. "Blimey, that means I'm going to have to stop swearing that much around her, haven't I? It wasn't till that day I realized just how often I punctuate my sentences with swear words. I couldn't get a single sentence out without stopping to alter them halfway."

"I've noticed." said Lily wryly. "You need to stop swearing, period."

Leila arched her eyebrows and said, "So _that's_ what being at the receiving end of parental disapproval feels like."

Lily tried to hide her ecstasy at Leila's use of the word 'parental'.

She just shrugged nonchalantly. "I would've thought Molly would've demonstrated it on multiple occasions."

"I think it's safe to say the Weasleys are immune to their mother's ire."

Sirius stirred and opened his eyes, looking as disoriented as Leila had a few minutes ago. "Bloody hell... I don't think I've slept that long in months!"

"Join the club." Leila told him, getting up.

Remus strolled in at that precise moment and smiled at all of them. "Oh look, the sleepyheads are awake. Sirius, James is going to kill you if you don't show up in fifteen minutes. He's sent four owls asking if he needs to set a singing Tonks on you."

"Damn!" groaned Sirius. He jumped up and sprinted up the stairs. But he was back down in a flash. He pulled Leila to him and hugged her tightly and said, "Midnight butterbeer session tonight, just you and me. Deal?"

"Deal!" she told him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. He grinned and ran off.

"Oh no... Are you two going to start finding ways to get into trouble with everyone else now that you're back on talking terms?" teased Remus.

"Don't know what you're talking about." said Leila airily.

"Right then, might as well complete the happy morning and get decent breakfast. Anybody up for Hogsmeade, for a change? Rosmerta still does the best fry up."

"I'm in." agreed Leila. She looked over at Lily hesitantly and said "Would you-"

"You bet." said Lily with casual cheerfulness, doing her best to not throw her arms around Leila in delight. '_Don't muck it up like James did.'_ she told herself firmly.

She was rewarded for her prudence with a shy but genuine smile from her daughter.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys! Have a lovely weekend :)**

In far better spirits than she'd been in weeks, Leila skipped to the dungeons after breakfast. Mostly, it passed in conversation between Rosmerta, Remus and Lily but Leila had been perfectly content sitting there and listening to them. Leaving Remus and Lily to their work, she disappeared to her daily torture session with Snape.

"You're late." he snapped at her the minute she entered.

"Sorry." She even managed to sound like she meant it.

It didn't appease him one bit and he doubled his attack on her mind. After a weary hour he shouted, "Are you even trying?"

"I am!" she shouted back. "It'll be bloody useful if you tell me what exactly I can do! 'Focus' is not a good enough instruction!"

"If you're too much of a dunderhead to comprehend that, I can't do anything more, Potter! I'm going in again. I need to you to pay attention and the minute you sense me, I need you to use your mental energies to throw me out!"

But she was tired out and just not in the mood to have him rummaging through her brain again. She had her wand out and she said, "Protego!" just as he entered her mind. Snape hadn't been expecting that and much to both their shock, Leila found herself in _his_ mind.

_A young boy looked on in terror as the the man and woman in front of him screamed at each other... He huddled away in the street corner as other boys jeered at him... He looked down in sorrow at his torn shoes... A pretty young girl with long red hair and green eyes smiled at him and softly intoned his name..._

Leila was thrown back physically and she hissed as her hip made contact with the hard wooden bench behind her. Snape was towering over her, his eyes mad with rage, looking demonic. Leila backed away in alarm.

"How dare you? How dare you enter my mind?"

"I was just trying a shield! I had no idea I would end up in your head!" she said frantically, backing away.

"Liar!"

"You're constantly reading my mind when it is least required! Read it NOW and tell me if you think I'm lying!" she shouted at him.

Her words seemed to affect him and as he stared hard at her, his shoulders dropped and his face became a little less scary.

He turned from her and said bitterly, "If you ever laugh at that, Potter-"

"_Laugh_ at that?" she asked quietly. "Are you for real? You've been in my head every day for the last week. You've seen what my life is like, what I grew up with. Why would_ I_, of all the people in the world, find that even remotely amusing?"

He turned around and stared at her. She glared back at him angrily but she honestly wasn't all that riled up. What she saw told her enough about the man in front of her and she just didn't have it in her to be that angry anymore.

Snape seemed to know what she was thinking, as usual, and his face hardened. "I don't need your pity-"

"It isn't pity. It's empathy."

"If you ever tell anyone-"

"Same goes to you about what you've seen in _my_ head."

They both stared at each other for the longest time. Finally Snape deflated and nodded tiredly. "Leave, Potter, go and practice. You can do this. If you can throw off the Imperius curse, this should come to you easily enough. Just try harder. I'll see you on Tuesday."

Leila hid her astonishment at his rather kind words. She nodded and left.

Man and girl, trapped in a dungeon, hiding from the light above, believing they had nothing in common other than a woman they both loved, turned into different people after that. Leila and Snape both began to think that maybe, just maybe, there might be someone in the world who understood what it felt like to be trapped by the makings of their own destiny.

It wasn't till she was almost at lunch that she wondered why he said Tuesday. It wasn't like anyone followed the concept of weekday and weekends anymore. Everyday was the same bleeding mess and everyone worked everyday. Given that today was Sunday and everyone was busy at work as usual it was a testimony to the fact that all days of the week dissolved into one.

And then it hit her. It was her birthday tomorrow. After getting over the initial shock that Snape even knew when her birthday was, let alone give her a day off, she felt her spirits plummet. She was already wired to dislike birthdays and this year, she would have to deal with the fact that she was alive to make it for another year when she should be in the ground instead of letting other people take the fall for her. If Snape had really wanted to be kind to her, he'd have insisted on an all day lesson tomorrow so she could stay in the dungeon and distract herself from her own thoughts.

She dragged her feet reluctantly to the Great Hall and then she stopped, her eyes going wide. Sitting in the table with Remus, wearing a quiet smile, was Hermione Granger.

Hermione looked up and her face lit up. She got up and ran to Leila and threw her arms around her.

"You inconsiderate idiot!" said Leila, half furious and half overjoyed. "A letter would've been nice! I've spent every day wondering who murdered you!"

Hermione laughed and hugged her tight. "Missed you too Leila! So, so much!"

"You're not getting off that easy!" said Leila, hugging her best friend tight, her throat constricting. "God, I've missed you so much!"

They both walked back to the table, arm in arm, Leila feeling a massive load drop off her shoulder. "How're your parents?" asked Leila gently.

Hermione's smile fell and she gave Leila a strange, sad look before shaking her head and saying, "They're okay." Leila frowned and then said "Are _you_ okay?"

"I am now. Sorry I disappeared. It's all okay now. I'm staying with Hestia Jones at her safehouse in the interim. I just wanted to see you on my way there so I stopped by." she looked distressed while Leila stared at her in bemusement, not really understanding.

Remus cleared his throat and gently grasped Hermione's hand in a comforting way. "You did the right thing."

"I know." she said softly.

Leila looked between the two of them. "What did you do?"

Hermione sighed and said, "I asked the Order to get my parents to safety. They were already targeted once and now that we're having a full scale war, they will be attacked again and I-" Hermione took a deep breath. "We modified their memory so that they don't know specific details of where I am or what I'm up to. The less they know, the better. And the Order relocated them to Australia. They're happy there and still too confunded to wonder why I'm not there with them."

Leila swallowed hard. "Herm, why aren't you there with them?"

Hermione stared at her. "Because it'd defeat the whole purpose of trying to keep them safe. I mean, there's no way I'm going to hide quietly and when the time comes, you'll need me."

Leila stared at her like she was crazy. "Yes, I always need you and Ron but not if this is the price..."

Hermione shook her head and said, "They'll come after me anyway, given that it's public knowledge that I'm... well..."

"That you're _my_ friend." finished Leila, looking pained. "Herm, I'm so sorry..."

"No!" said Hermione fiercely. "Don't you dare apologize for being my friend! You aren't even alive in the other reality and they still came after me and my parents!"

Leila smiled sadly at her. "That still doesn't really explain why you haven't gone into hiding with your folks..."

Hermione looked at Leila and smiled. "And miss an opportunity to get entangled in a mess with you and Ron? You jest. And I don't want to explain to my parents that I'm hiding with them because I'm a muggleborn. They don't need to know that."

"You didn't tell them about any of that?" asked Remus in surprise.

"I didn't either." said a soft voice from behind them. Hermione stared up at the beautiful woman, with long red hair and the same eyes as her best friend. She placed her hand on Hermione's shoulder and smiled gently.

"You're-" Hermione began, throwing a wide eyed look at Leila, who'd tensed up slightly.

"Lily Potter." finished Lily, smiling, sparing Leila. "And you must be Hermione. I've heard so much about you. And speaking as a fellow muggleborn, I get why you didn't tell your parents about any of this. I never did, not really anyway. I couldn't bear to dispel their notion that a magical world was free of prejudice. I'm sorry you had to do the same."

Hermione blushed, looking a bit awed by Lily.

"Wait a minute..." said Leila suddenly, looking up at Lily with growing alarm. "If they're going after muggle targets associated with the Order... Oh my god, tell me you've gotten the Dursleys out of here!"

Judging from both Remus and Lily's expressions, it hadn't even occurred to them.

Leila was shocked. "You're joking! Muggle relatives of Voldmeort's nemesis, left defenseless?"

Lily opened her mouth and closed it. "Honest mistake. Our brains are wired in a sequence of priorities offlate and-"

"She's your _sister_." said Leila with growing horror. "D-Did you not get along in the other reality either?"

Lily's face fluttered with unreadable emotions. "She was murdered in my reality, as were Vernon and Dudley."

Leila stared at her, feeling like she was slipping into an abyss. She hated them, no doubt. But her mind was now filled with images of Vernon, kneeling dead, bloodied, over his morning paper, Petunia hanging from the ceiling of her kitchen, mutilated and poor Dudley, with whom she finally got along, pummeled to death, his terror of wizards finally justified. The genuine grief the images evoked caught her off guard.

Leila swallowed and found herself pleading. "P-Please. Please get them out of here. I know we're stretching our resources and I know you intend to get to them later but please... It's the first place Voldemort will go looking and- they don't... Nobody deserves to die like that. And they will, just because they took me in. Please, I'm begging you."

Lily stared at her and shivered at how small and terrified Leila looked at the moment. "I'll go, right away." said Lily quietly, unable to meet her eyes.

Remus got up too and said, "I'll get Dedalus to work out an arrangement for them."

Petunia Dursley thumbed through the mail, sorting the bills from the flyers. She sighed and gazed at the clock. It was 3 pm in the afternoon and Vernon wouldn't be home till late. It was a quiet day. She wondered what Dudley was doing. He had disappeared with his friends somewhere, as usual

The door bell rang, distracting her from her thoughts. She frowned and got up to answer the door, wondering who could possibly be visiting at this time of the day.

She opened the door and a scream caught in her throat.

'_Impossible... No... NO...'_

The ghost in front of her looked back at her, her face expressionless. Dark, red hair that fell to her waist, piercing green eyes, gloriously beautiful and distinctly older than the last time they had met, Lily Potter stood outside her door, looking at her sister.

"It's been too long, Tuney."

"Lily... How.. Y-Y-You... You're dead! YOU'RE DEAD!" she whispered, her eyes wide with horror, backing into the hallway.

"Yes, I was." Lily said quietly, stepping in after her sister, shutting the door behind her.

"M-magic? You can bring back d-d-dead people? A-Are you a ... ghost?"

"Magic can't bring back the dead, Tuney. I already made that clear to you during Mum and Dad's funeral. And I'm very much alive and solid."

Petunia had backed all the way into the kitchen. Her breath came in short, frantic gasps, She stumbled back onto the kitchen table, clutching her chest, her eyes wide.

Lily walked up to the sink and filled a glass with water from the tap. She quietly handed it to Petunia.

"Drink it. Take deep breaths."

Minutes ticked by, the silence broken only by Petunia's choking sobs. Finally, she looked up at her supposedly dead sister, eyes still wide with terror.

"How are you here?"

Lily looked at her, her face still blank. "I'll spare you a story you probably don't want to hear anyway. To cut a long story short, there's been an enormous magical occurrence, as a result of which I'm back."

Silence crept back in between the sisters.

Lily looked at her, eyes hollow. "I cried when you died." she said softly. "They murdered you, Vernon and Dudley, because you were _my_ sister."

"W-What?"

"It was a few years after I had lost Leila. I didn't think I could take any more heartache. It almost destroyed me. I never forgave myself."

"What are you talking about?" Petunia's voice rose, hysterical.

"I cried and cried and cried..." Lily continued softly. "I cried for you, for my little nephew, the little boy you never let me meet."

Petunia shook her head, eyes squeezed shut, trying to make sense of what Lily was saying.

"But you, Tuney… You didn't shed a tear when you found out I had been murdered, did you?"

Petunia's head snapped up and she looked at her sister wide eyed.

Lily met her gaze, her empty mask falling away.

"I knew you hated me, but I always thought deep down, you'd care, just a little."

Petunia trembling body stilled and she slowly regained her composure. She straightened her shoulder and met her sister's gaze, to find the hatred she felt reflected back in Lily's eyes.

Lily's face twisted in grief. "I could've made peace with that, someday. But you… you were beyond just hatred weren't you? You stupid, petty _bitch._"

Petunia hissed and jumped up at her sister's words.

Lily glowered down at her. "So, you hated me. Very well… But you had to take it out on my daughter, didn't you? You took it out on a _baby_. _Your niece!_"

Petunia snarled "I took the little freak in, didn't I? Kept her alive, didn't I? That old man told me what would happen if I didn't take her in! I saved your little freak from being gutted by some of your kind and…" she was cut off, the force of Lily's blow sending her sprawling onto the floor.

"Shut up. Just shut up, Petunia!" Lily shouted, her eyes wild. "You took her in and abused her! You treated her like dirt! You destroyed my child! Severus was right... I may be a _freak_, Petunia, but you… you are a miserable excuse for a _human_ _being_."

Petunia trembled and crawled back, away from her sister.

"You didn't take Leila in to save her. You took her in to spite me. You took her in to treat her the way you always wanted to treat me but never could. How _could_ you?"

"She complained to you, didn't she, little sister?" sneered Petunia. "She cried to you so she can have you turn against me... She'd love that, the unnatural wench…"

A hysterical laugh escaped Lily's lips. "_Leila_ didn't say a word. She never does. In spite of _everything_ you did to her, _she _won't say a single bad thing about any of you."

Petunia pursed her lips and turned away.

"I hate you. I want nothing more than to rip you to pieces. I'm ashamed of you and Mum and Dad would be too." Lily said quietly.

Petunia's eyes went wide, hurt creeping into her face.

Lily smiled darkly. "Terrible to hear, isn't it? You've told me that all my life but you knew I would never say that to you, you knew I loved you, no matter what. Not anymore. You make me sick."

They stared at one another for a long minute, saying nothing. Lily tossed her a rolled parchment.

"It's a map that will tell you were to go. A group of wizards will lead you someplace safe, maybe Canada."

"W-What?"

"A war is brewing and they'll come for you, because of your association with Leila and I. These wizards will set you and your family up with a new identity and get you to safety. It's your only chance. Take it and get out of the country."

Petunia scrambled to her feet, furious. "How dare you…? How _dare _you walk in here, when you're supposed to be dead, telling _me_ what to do, screwing up my life?"

Lily looked at her coldly. "Honestly, I don't care what happens to you or your family anymore, Petunia. Not after what you did to Leila. You're dead to me already. I'm doing this only because Leila begged me to. She wants to protect you. And I want to protect her. I will not allow the burden of guilt or grief over _your death_ to fall on her."

Petunia swallowed, her anger still evident.

"It's your choice, whether you choose to take it or not. But they _will_ kill you if you stay. I suggest you leave as soon as you can, before the dark wizards come looking for you. Or worse… before my husband comes looking for you. And I promise you, if James gets here first, you will _wish_ it was Lord Voldemort's followers who had found you."

Lily swept out of the house, without looking back and Petunia would never see her ever again.

Hermione had left for the Hestia's house in the evening, promising Leila she'd find a way for all of them to stay together soon. She'd guessed, without Leila saying anything, that her friend was alone and in a mess and wasn't too keen to leave but Leila was the only non Order member allowed to stay in the HQ and only because Dumbledore had insisted.

Leila glumly went back to the dorms, feeling even lonelier than before. Seeing Hermione reminded her of how much she missed her and Ron and all the Weasleys.

She fell face first onto her bed, deciding to skip dinner. She had spent the entire afternoon eating muggle candy with Hermione by the lake and it had destroyed her appetite.

She shut her eyes tight and decided that she ought to maybe take Snape's advice seriously and actually _focus_. She emptied her mind, willing herself to think of nothing. She tried to imagine a shield around her mind, an steel bubble protecting her thoughts. It was hard work to keep her focus but she managed.

She drifted into a restless sleep, the fringes of her protected conscious stirring from a brewing storm. Her conscious reached out Voldemort's slowly, tenaciously. But this time, her partially trained mind managed to push the pain to the background, letting it buzz like loud static. And Leila heard his thoughts, loud and clear.

She woke up, a scream caught in her throat. _'Oh god NO!'_

"Is it wrong to want a holiday right now?" asked Cedric grumpily. He had endured an entire day or patrolling the Carlise fort with Mad Eye and his nerves were frayed by the old man's constant theorizing as to what the unusually quiet Death Eater's next move was going to be.

James gave him a sympathetic look. "I warned you... I told you to stay back at the HQ with Remus..."

The entire Order was slumped on the table, exhausted, unable and unwilling to talk.

They were startled out of their stupour by the sound of hurried footsteps coming down the great staircase. They all jumped up reached for their wand. A group of young people burst into the hall, looking extremely cheerful and a bit rowdy.

"What the hell are you lot doing here?" demanded Gideon, eyeing Ron, Fred, George and Ginny.

"Nice to see you too, Uncle Gid!" said Fred cheerfully.

"Although, you could be a bit more appreciative. Minnie was furious with all of us stampeding into her office. Apparently, soot doesn't suit her carpet. See what I did there? Suit? Soot?" George was the only one laughing at his own awful pun.

"That's a horrible one." Sirius told them grumpily.

George raised his eyebrows at him and said, "Blimey, Padfoot, you look like something the cat beat up, chewed at and then dragged in."

"And when we say cat, in your context, it's that much more insulting..."

Sirius scowled at them. "You try getting anything done in that miserable Auror office in a barely functioning Ministry and let's see how many Witch Weekly Face of the Month Awards you win!"

"Witch Weekly Face of the Month Award? What the hell have you been reading your spare time, Paddy?" asked James, amused.

"Boys, meet Prongs. Prongs, meet the two evil geniuses who retrieved our map." said Sirius, keen to divert attention from his Witch Weekly outburst. It worked like a charm. The twins were all over James in a minute, gushing about how incredible he was and how the gods had chosen to walk among them...

Gideon looked at them with a funny expression. "Were Fabian and I ever that insane?"

"Yes." chorused all the older Order members.

"My apologies?" offered Gideon weakly.

"Oi, if you two are done being groupies, we have places to be." called Ron, rolling his eyes.

"What _are_ you doing here?" asked Remus with a frown.

"Well, we were bored and then we thought what better way to amuse ourselves than piss Leila off."

"It is very amusing. Have you seen her when she's annoyed and embarrassed at the same time? It's like she's wondering whether she should bludgeon you or herself to death."

"I think she'll pick us outright today though."

"We did everything to irritate her. A big, sticky caramel cake and she detests caramel, blindingly shiny wrapping paper..."

"OH FUCK!" yelled Sirius, jumping up in horror. "It's her birthday! In FIVE MINUTES!"

The four of them stared at him.

"You haven't... forgotten, have you?" asked Ron enunciating each word very slowly.

The long silence was answer enough.

"Well, on the bright side," began Fred in a chirpy tone, "seeing as how much she hates birthdays, she might consider you forgetting the best gift ever!"

"Absolutely! Write on a blank piece of paper that you're respecting her wishes to keep it hush hush and sign it off from all of you. She'll love you more than she'll love us at any rate."

"Especially after we burst fifteen Zonko's loud, honking balloons in her ears very loudly..."

"Sixteen. We can get away with miscounting an odd one."

Ginny nudged them to be quiet, her eyes on the Lily and James who looked like they were swimming in the deepest pits of misery and self loathing.

"How could we have forgotten?" croaked James.

"We've been so busy.. I didn't even know what date it was today..." said Lily hoarsely.

"I did." moaned Remus. "But it didn't even strike me..."

"This would be really funny if it weren't so sad." observed Ron stoically.

All of them jumped at the sound of another set of footsteps rushing down the stairs towards them.

Leila stormed through the door, looking disheveled and her eyes wide.

"HAAAPPPPPPYYYYY BIIIIRTHDA-" began the twins.

She held up her hand to cut them off, looking extremely stressed.

"My brain just tuned into FM Voldemort." she said tersely. "They're here. They're heading to Hogwarts to mount an attack."

Everyone just stared at her.

Leila glared at them. "Did you hear anything I just said? He's sending his Death Eaters and Dementors to the fucking castle! Get up, move, run! NOW!"

"Leila, are you sure-?" began Dumbledore.

He cut of by a loud explosion. They all swiveled their heads and stared outside. From just beyond the fortified ground, possibly from the fringes of Hogsmeade, a fire burnt and the dark mark sparkled over the grounds' gate.

"The son of a bitch..." whispered Leila.

Dumbledore jumped up, his face a mask of fury. He turned to the children in the room and said, "Go back to Professor McGonagall's office now, even you Leila! Take the floo back to the Burrow."

Around him, all the Order members jolted out of their shock and jumped, their faces pale and furious, wands out.

A deafening explosion sounded and they all knew the wards were being attacked.

Leila turned around and grabbed Ginny and Ron's hand, dragging them away. She could still hear Voldemort's voice in her head.

_"Can't let Potter turn fifteen without making a celebration of it, can I?"_


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N - Thank you all for the marvelous reviews! Made my week! :) Have a wonderful weekend! **

Leila led the Weasleys to McGonagall's office her heart hammering. So far, so good, the wards looked like they were holding up. The Order had assembled down create a quick defense strategy should the wards fail.

"FUCK!" yelled Ron, sounding fearful.

"What?" demanded Leila.

"The floo network is down." Fred said, looking stressed. Leila's mouth dried up. She watched them try to revive the flames and hurl floo powder into it but it just spluttered and died.

A few more loud explosions sounded and she looked over in terror at the four Weasleys. She had to get them out of here. They had come here tonight for her sake and they'd unwittingly gotten caught in the line of fire.

Thinking quickly, she said, "The one eyed witch statue! Get it in the passageway and hide there. Depending on how it goes, we can escape to Hogsmeade and use the floo in any of the taverns there for a quick getaway."

Thankfully nobody argued. They all ran to the third floor and Leila quickly opened the passageway. She ushered all of them in and climbed after them, sealing the passageway behind her.

Ron had his arms around Ginny, looking at her worriedly as did Fred and George. Their sister was their first priority and it was imperative to get her out. Leila was strongly reminded of the Chamber of Secrets and she remembered her panic at the sight of Ginny's prone form at Riddle's foot.

"Keep moving." Leila said firmly. They all silently went down the passage, Leila moving up front, her wand out, lighting the way.

Finally reaching the end, she opened the trapdoor to Honeydukes. She poked her head out and froze. The noise and screaming outside was terrible. Hysterical screaming, sobbing accompanied by sneering laughter, reached her ears.

She slammed the door shut and looked at them with horror. "They're attacking Hogsmeade! They must've given up trying to break the wards around Hogwarts. Go back! Now!"

Ron dragged Ginny down, Fred following. George stopped when he realized Leila had frozen to the spot, her head tilting as she struggled to hear something outside.

The sound reached both of them. It sounded like a small boy, sobbing, sounding like he was just above them and he was crying for his mother. A set of thundering footsteps could be heard and none of them sounded like a woman's. It had to be Death Eaters and they were coming straight for the kid. George grabbed her arm and tried to pull her but she pulled back, her eyes wide and shook her head.

"Go with them! Get them to safety!" she hissed at George then before he could stop her, she's clambered out of the trapdoor. George started after her for a split second then he climbed after her, shutting the door tightly, hoping Fred, Ron and Ginny had reached the castle safely.

Leila immediately spotted the boy and ran to him. He looked at her in sheer terror. He couldn't have been older than five or six. Leila placed her finger over her lips and the boy nodded, looking terrified. She pulled him to her and dragged him behind the storage crates. Her eyes widened when George joined them.

"What are you doing? Go back now!" she hissed at him.

"Yeah right, Lil'Lu. Shush. They'll hear us." he whispered back. The three of them stayed huddled, trying to figure out how to get out of there.

And that's when they heard the woman scream downstairs. The boy leapt up and cried "Mama!" and tore downstairs.

"No!" yelled George and Leila and they ran after him. They both ran into the main store downstairs, following the boy's loud screaming. They stopped dead at the sight, staring in horror. The woman was suspended above the cash counter, slowly revolving, her head hanging and blood dripping out from her eyeballs used to be.

"Oh Merlin..." moaned George. The boy stood under his mother's body screaming. Leila snapped out of it, grabbed him and held him to her, his face against her t shirt, trying to avert his gaze. Two Death Eaters burst into the shop, drawn by the boy's hysterical sobbing.

They froze at the sight of Leila, recognizing her immediately.

She acted quickly, yelling "Stupefy!" Behind her George did the same and both the masked men fell, their momentary shock working against them.

They heard more footsteps coming in from the back and George grabbed her and the boy and ushered them out into the main streets.

It was chaos. Everyone was running and screaming, most of the buildings were alight and burning. In the midst of the crowd, Leila could see Death Eaters dotted, cursing people and randomly vandalizing whatever they could see.

Leila spotted two more abandoned children, two little girls, sobbing and terrified and right on the path of an advancing Death Eater.

"Petrificus Totalus!" she cried, pointing her wand at him. George and her grabbed those two girls as well.

"Shrieking Shack!" she told George. "Get the kids there! Use the passage way in the main room to get to the Whomping Willow and press the knot at the entrance of the tree. Get the Order."

"I'm not leaving you here!" George roared at her.

"GET THE CHILDREN OUT OF HERE!" she shouted and shoving him towards the direction of the Shack. He hesitated but on catching sight of the three frightened children, he grit his teeth and nodded.

"Take how many ever people you can with you." Leila told him and turned into the main village, her heart hammering.

She ran into the main square and sighted three Death Eaters with their wands pointed at a single man.

"Expelliarmus!" she cried, knocking two of their wands out. The third one turned and pointed his wand at her, but the man they'd been cornering shoved him from behind and grabbed his wand. Leila stunned another Death Eater but the third one had reached her and on recognizing her, let out a roar of joy or rage, she couldn't tell, and jumped at her, knocking her down.

Leila gasped as his hands fastened around his throat, his burly arm tightening around her wand wrist. She quickly kneed him in the groin, making him swear and drop her hand. She stunned him and he crashed right on top of her.

Leila felt her left wrist snap painfully as his bulk crashed on her angled hand. She found herself being pulled up and she realized it was the man she had rescued. He was a tall, thin man with piercing blue eyes. His eyes widened at the sight of her.

"What the hell? Potter? Is that you?"

"I-Yes?"

"What the bleeding fuck are you doing here? Where's my brother?"

"_Who_?"

"Albus!"

"As in _Dumbledore_?"

Their exchange was interrupted by more screams coming from the west side of the village. She turned and started running but the man grabbed her by her t shirt and yelled, "Are you out of your mind? You're on top of their hit list!"

"Reinforcements are still stuck in Hogwarts! We have to do something!" she shouted at him, pulling away and running towards the direction of the screams. He stared at her for a moment then groaned and said, "Bloody, fucking Gryffindors!" and ran after her.

They both ran towards the screams and stopped short at the sight in front of them. A small group of villagers, men and women, were being rounded up, surrounded by Death Eaters, who all had their wands out and were laughing, occasionally jinxing someone in the group.

"Split up!" Leila told the man. "I'll take the ones on the right." She moved off before he could argue and rushed straight into the circle, her wands pointed at the masked men to the right, yelling all the curses she could think of, hoping Dumbledore's brother had her back with the ones on the left because she literally had her back to them.

Curses were flying thick and fast in the air and Leila dived, slashed and swirled, in her element. She brought down three of the Death Eaters, creating a big enough gap in the circle to allow people to escape. Behind her, Dumbledore's brother was doing the same.

They soon found themselves back to back, ferociously fighting the ring of Death Eaters closing in around them, as they struggled not to pay heed to their injuries. Leila's arm had a deep gash and was bleeding profusely while her jeans had massive burns which she could feel tearing into her skin, stinging. Her old injuries were screaming with every move she made. But by gods, she had never felt this alive.

Leila finally bent over, her hands on her knees, supporting her as blood spluttered from her mouth. She had no idea what she got hit with but it felt like atleast three of her ribs were cracked. Behind her, the man also groaned. She looked at him blearily. His nose was bleeding and his right cheek sported a gash. He too was clutching his stomach. They both surveyed the damage around them. All the Death Eaters were out cold.

"Potter, where the fuck did you learn to fight like that?"

"You think this is bad? You should meet my cousin and his cronies." she told him, haltingly, struggling to catch her breath. "You're really Dumbeldore's brother?"

"Yeah. I'm Aberforth. I run the Hog's Head."

"Nice to meet you?"

"Yeah, yeah. Delightful. Where the fuck is the cavalry?"

Leila was wondering the same thing. They could hear more screaming and crashes around the village. She looked at Aberforth and said, "Ready for the next round?"

"Do you have some deep seated suicidal tendencies?"

"I can hear _children_ screaming."

Aberforth looked at her and his eyes flashed with a strange emotion. "Let's go then, Potter. And try not getting yourself killed. My brother will chew me out, although I blame him for you being here in the first place."

They both stumbled, trying to ignore the pain from their multiple injuries. Leila spat out more blood, wiped her mouth with her sleeve and focused on the commotion outside the Three Broomsticks.

"Care for a pint of butterbeer, Aberforth?"

"Lead the way, you raving lunatic."

They both ran in and crashed straight into two Death Eaters.

"Potter!" sneered one of them, in disbelieving delight.

"Boys, if you wanted to socialize, you could've just asked me out for a drink." Leila said, before punching the masked man right on his face. The non magical nature of the attack stunned the Death Eater and gave Leila the time to raise her wand and petrify him. Aberforth was still struggling with his opponent. Leila turned to help and that's when she saw it. Rosmerta was splayed on the wall behind the bar, her clothes ripped, her eyes wide and fearful and very, very dead.

Leila stared at the sight, the noises around her blurring. Rosmerta had served her breakfast this morning. She felt a snarl erupt from her throat and she tackled the Death Eater to the ground and grabbed his throat, tightening her hold.

"What the hell did she ever do to you?" cried Leila, crushing his windpipe. He gasped and flailed his arms and then fell still as Aberforth's stunner hit him. He grabbed Leila up and said, "More to go outside, Potter. Grieve later."

They both ran out, still numb from what they'd seen inside the Three Broomsticks. They saw a large group of masked figures running towards them and both of them raised the wands, ready. Aberforth and her exchanged worried looks. Both of them were well aware that they had gotten lucky encountering the less capable lackeys and that the probability of their survival was going to dip drastically if they were to fight any of the inner circle of Death Eaters. Leila had an ominous feeling the group that was headed their way was going to be less easier to tackle than the ones they had fought thus far and they both were already injured.

"Potter, this one isn't going to end well." Aberforth whispered.

"We just need to hold out till the Order get here." Leila replied, struggling to inject optimism in her voice. She was well aware that if Aberforth died, it was on her. She had forced him to fight alongside her. She didn't have too much time to dwell on that because the first Death Eater reached her and roared "Crucio!" She ducked and rolled to the ground. Aberforth had already engaged two more Death Eaters and was dueling fiercely.

She groaned as her elbow made contact with the concrete. Another Death Eater was ready and yelled, "Crucio!" and this time she couldn't dive out of the way. Pain seared through her and she hissed, biting down a scream. The pain was suddenly cut off and Leila looked up blearily to find that the Death Eater had been stunned and was on the ground. Her pain filled gaze met the furious face of James Potter.

Another pair of arms pulled her up and Sirius's panicky voice sounded in her ear, "Leila, love, are you okay?"

She groaned and said, "About bloody time. What were lot doing, stopped for tea on the way?"

"Talk about timing!" said Aberforth, recognizing Dumbledore. "Potter and I have already got most of them down. At least get the rest, yeah?"

The fight around her raged with a renewed ferocity. The Order had split up and headed to different parts of the village to fight. Sirius, James, Remus and Lily had stayed there with Leila and Aberforth and were attacking the Death Eaters with a fury they didn't know they possessed, the sight of Leila being tortured burned to their mind. Finally they drove the Death Eaters away and for reasons she couldn't explain, Leila only felt a sense of foreboding. They had skipped off a little too happily, like there was a backup plan.

"They're a few on the eastern side we never got to." Leila said, finally bending over and groaning, relief flooding her at finally having reinforcements. She felt someone pull her up again and she was crushed to James's chest.

"YOU IDIOT!" he roared at her.

"Ow!Dad..." she groaned. "I think my ribs are broken and you're not helping."

The air around them was turning cold and Leila could feel her her bones turn into ice. She knew the feeling immediately.

"Dementors." Sirius and her whispered together.

The swooped in from all directions and they could her the distinct crack of disapparating as the Death Eaters vanished, positive that the Dementors would finish the job.

Leila felt her vision blur and the screaming begin in her ears.

"_Not Leila.. No, No! Please... I'll do anything..."_

_"Lily! Take Leila and run! I'll hold him back!..."_

_"... I love you, Leila... Avada Kedavra!..."_

She held her wand, in front of her, trying to shut out the noises, unable to physically see anything. Aberforth groaned and swayed dangerously next to her, his injuries and memories proving to be far too potent a combination. Leila reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Mum, get him. He's hurt." Leila said hoarsely to Lily, nudging her to her other side, towards Aberforth.

"I've got Leila." James assured Lily, as he pulled Leila to tighter to him, struggling himself.

They could hear the screams around them transform to sobs and whimpers as the Dementors advanced, soaring in the sky above. Leila struggled to remember the incantation. And without warning, they all rushed in. Everybody instinctively dived to either side to avoid them and ended up being on the ground, blinded and their minds a blur of terrible memories.

"Expecto Patronum!" Leila heard Remus, Sirius and Lily yell.

_"Dad?"_ Leila wondered, vaguely. She looked up, breathing in his scent, her hand feeling the arms around her. He looked down at her as well, his wand still pointed in front of him. Leila looked around at all of them and realized that most of her memories from the Dementors were now less effective at incapacitating her. She tentatively held our her wand, looking at James and Lily, she said, "Expecto Patronum." the exact same time James did.

Two identical stags burst out from both their wands and cantered around them, keeping away the Dementors heading their way. They finally went and stood by James and Leila smiled blearily as James stared at the pair with a stunned expression.

"Your patronus is...?" croaked James in disbelief.

"It's you...Prongs." Leila slurred tiredly and her eyes closed as she gave into the darkness, her adrenaline going down with the knowledge that the battle was over.

Leila struggled to open her eyes. She could hear a tonne of voices around her but she couldn't place any of them. She slowly cracked one eyelid open and everybody around her fell silent.

She forced both eyes open and found what looked like every single person she knew standing over her. All the Weasleys, Sirius, Remus, James and Lily were looking down at her in mingled worry and relief.

"Guys, back away. This is a bit creepy. I feel like I'm in a zoo." she mumbled.

She could hear sighs of relief.

"She's alright." declared George cheerfully.

"Where am I?"

"The Hospital Wing, as usual."

"Enjoy your time here. You're going to feel the full wrath of the Order of the Phoenix today. Have fun and see you on the other side." Ron told her with a grin.

"Wrath? Why?" asked Leila confused.

"For being a moronic, imbecile who thought it was an acceptable idea to fend off Death Eaters on your own and then come back with a tonne of injuries." Bill told her briskly.

"Can it wait till tomorrow? My head's killing me." said Leila with a groan.

"Yeah we can put it off for a day. It _is_ still your birthday."

Leila's eyes narrowed. "We are never, I mean, NEVER talking about MY birthday again. The day is dead to me."

"Yeah there's no coming back from this fiasco, is there?" tutted Ginny sympathetically.

"In retrospect, your twelfth birthday looks comparatively tame, no?" said Fred brightly. "What's a crazy house elf, a ministry warning and then being starved and locked up for days after in comparison to this?"

Leila looked at Fred grimly. "People _died_ today at Hogsmeade. I think it's too early to make 31st July jokes, if ever."

That shut everyone up. Leila shut her eyes again. "George, the kids?"

"Alive. But not great. Especially the one we rescued from Honeydukes. No one should have to see their mother like that."

"And Rosmerta is-?"

"Yeah. Sorry, Leila. But if it helped, you did helluva damage on the Death Eaters who did it."

"I should've killed the bastards." whispered Leila, feeling exhausted and sick.

Ginny cleared her throat and gestured to her brothers that it was time to leave. She had caught the way James, Lily, Sirius and Remus had been staring at Leila and they looked like they needed to be alone with her.

The Weasleys trooped out and much to their surprise, so did Remus, who dragged a reluctant Sirius along with him.

Leila opened her eyes again when she felt two people sit on the bed on either side of her. She looked from her left to right at Lily and James, both of whom had a stony expression on their faces.

Leila felt Lily shake with sobs next to her and her eyes widened.

"Mum? Don't cry..." whispered Leila in horror. "It's okay. We're all okay right? Did anyone...?"

"No one in the Order. But some of the Hogmeade residents..." said James quietly, trailing off.

"Oh god..." moaned Leila, her mind in fast-forward. "I thought.. Aberforth and I... we tried. We went after as many of them as possible. Well, I sort of forced Aberforth. Is he injured badly? Oh god, I didn't even give him a choice. I just forced him to fight too...I'm so sorry..."

"Sorry?" whispered Lily, furiously, tears running down her face. "Are you _mad_? You're apologizing? If you hadn't been there they'd have killed everyone! Most of the village survived because of what you and Aberforth did!"

"None of them would've died if I weren't there. Voldemort did this to get to me." Leila said quietly."I'm a liability to everyone. I need to find someplace else alone and not-"

"Shut up!" snapped James, finally losing it. "Just... stop talking, alright? I've had enough!"

Leila stared at him, her eyes wide.

"Voldemort is a raving lunatic, a murdering megalomaniac and a piece of shit that needs to be put down. He kills everyone regardless of what and who they are. You happen to be one of his targets and if it means killing a hundred people to get to you, he'll do it, not because it's an inconvenient collateral damage but because he derives amusement from it. If not you, he'd have found another reason."

"That doesn't change-"

"I said _stop talking_. I'm done, Leila. I'm done watching you destroy yourself, I'm done watching you throw yourself in harm's way and I'm done with you thinking you're responsible for this war or that Voldemort is your responsibility."

"Dad, I-" She stopped. It just dawned on her that she'd been calling them both mum and dad.

She let out a shuddering breath. "Dad." she murmured, testing the word slowly, awed at how easy it was to say now that she'd done it already. "Mum. Mum, Dad. Dad, Mum. Wow." she whispered, feeling disoriented.

She sat up and looked at James with wide eyed wonder. "Dad." she said, carefully. She turned to Lily and said, "Mum."

They both stared at her with unreadable expressions. She slumped back on the pillow, looking dazed.

"It's funny. Now that I've said it, I'm wondering why it was so hard before." she said softly, almost as if she was talking to herself. "I used to say it out loud when I was younger, at night. I'd imagine what you'd look like, and that you were still alive and that you'd come and take me away. I used to rehearse a speech too. Lot of 'Mum' and 'Dad' thrown in there. I knew it would never happen but by the most insane chance, it did. And I wished every day the last few weeks that I was younger and it was easier to say Mum and Dad."

She knew she was rambling but she couldn't seem to stop now that she started.

"I've been trying to say it, these last few weeks. I even tried when I hid out the Dursleys. But I was so afraid that I'd wake up and there'd be no one left to call Mum and Dad and-"

She was cut off by Lily pulling her into her arms and holding her tightly, her body shaking with sobs.

"Mum, don't cry." whispered Leila, wrapping her arms around her, marveling at how easy it was. "Mum, mum, mum... God, I can't stop. I'm so sorry, I'm being a complete dork."

She felt James hold her too from behind, his arms going around both her and Lily, pulling them both to him. She looked up and say tears in his eyes too. He pressed his lips to her forehead and murmured, "I love that you're such a dork."

Leila felt a warmth bubble inside her and a faint smile creeping across her face. Her lump formed in her throat and to her horror she could feel tears building in her eyes. '_Don't weep, don't weep. don't weep... Say something funny...' _Then she groaned as their arms tightened around her. Her ribs were being crushed.

"Guys, while I'm loving the whole emotional we-are-family squish sessions we've got going here, I think my ribs need some healing before I become an eager participant in all these group hugs." said Leila wryly.

Lily jumped back in alarm. "I thought I healed everything!" She lightly felt Leila's ribs and winced as she located one or two that were clearly broken. "How'd I miss this?!"

Leila held up her arms. The gashes had been cleaned up and a long, thin faint scar ran down it. "What was this they hit me with? I've never been sliced open with something that leaves behind scars."

James clenched his teeth and muttered "Sectumsempra. It's a dark spell." Leila made a mental note of it.

Leila flinched as she muttered a spell and her ribs healed. "Thanks." muttered Leila. "You've got to teach me that one of these days. Dead useful."

"Why? Do you see any bone breaking activity in the near future?" snapped James, sounding edgy.

Leila decided to shut up for now. Clearly anything she said was going to get her an irritable response because of what she did sighed and settled in his arms and closed her eyes. Lily was brushing her hair out of her face.

"I love you." Lily said softly, her voice cracking. Leila didn't say anything, she just pulled her mother back into her arms and the three of them stayed like that for a long time.

Leila couldn't bring herself to celebrate. She finally, truly had her parents but it had taken a nightmarish, violent night to reach the point of acceptance. While she now found comfort and love in Lily and James, a little boy had to live with the memory of his mutilated mother hovering in the air for the rest of his life. And there were no more alternate universes left to recombine so she was lost to him forever.

She felt tears prickling in her eyes and she held Lily and James tightly and promised herself, whatever James might say, she wouldn't sit back behind the walls anymore. She would be out in the open so if Voldemort had to get to her, he could do so with ease and not slaughter innocent people to smoke her out.

**A/N: Thank you Accalia Silvermoon, for pointing out that the incantation is 'Expecto Patronum' and not 'Expecto Patronus'! I've edited it! Cheers :)**


	21. Chapter 21

Leila was staying at the Burrow for the day while the wards at Hogwarts were being strengthened. Molly hadn't been very impressed by the idea of Leila returning to Hogwarts at all but she knew that it was only right that she stay where her parents were so she let it slide. Sirius, Remus, James and Lily were given off from the task, Dumbledore insisting that they spend the day at The Burrow as well because they would keep worrying about her anyway. So they all found themselves in the cozy warm kitchen and the extended living room, with Leila getting an earful from the Gideon, Arthur and Molly, who were proving to be an effective preview of how the rest of the Order was reacting to the battle of Hogsmeade.

Sirius was twirling his wand, watching them fuss and freak out over Leila's insane stunt the previous night. Unlike Lily, James and Remus, he wasn't amused. Leila looked so lost and trapped there that his heart went out to her.

He just watched her quietly, observing her. She looked different somehow. Between Voldemort's return, Cedric's death, her parents' return and the recent battle, it looked perpetually lost. Her eyes were always so vague and confused, like she was never really sure what was going on or what was going to be thrown at her next. Physically, she was recovering but he could still she her wince now and then.

She had grown. It baffled him as to how a body so battered managed to muster the energy to grow but there it was. She'd finally hit her full height and was a bit taller than the average girl. Her face had turned angular, with prominent cheekbones and she looked like a young woman, rather than a girl. '_A very beautiful woman'_ He let his eyes rove down and swept over her body, making his heart beat faster. She was gorgeous and her body looked delicious to his eyes. Delicate with soft curves that seemed to call to him and those long legs... '_Fuck, when did she grow up?' _he thought in a daze, shaking his head slightly and wincing at the inappropriate thoughts. '_She's still a kid.' _he reminded himself forcefully. Unbidden, the image came to his mind. His beautiful Leila, entwined in Cedric's arms, her eyes closed, lips parted, head thrown back as his hands roved her body, touching her where he had no right to be anywhere near...

Sparks shot out of his wand and everyone turned to stare at him. He stared at his wand that he had gripped tightly as wild rage had taken over him. "Sorry." he muttered, his head still throbbing with anger. They turned back to the scene in the kitchen leaving him to calm down.

He remembered how Leila had come in the other night in tears, saying she was indeed a slut. Sirius clenched his teeth. He knew Cedric had been involved somehow. He wasn't blind. He'd noticed the way the boy stared at Leila every time they were in the same room or the way he kept asking about her.

"_He's not getting anywhere near her this time. No one is!" _thought Sirius darkly, grateful that Leila seemed to be intent on staying away from Cedric too.

His patience was to be tested sooner than expected, because Cedric wasn't one to give up and both of them weren't the only ones to notice that Leila had grown up to be something every boy and man would want. And it didn't help at all that Leila, while not entirely oblivious, was too far gone in her own world and distractioned over the war to really notice the subtle signs of someone making a move on her.

Sirius finally decided to rescue Leila. He got up and marched into the kitchen and caught Leila's hand and pulled her with him to the back door. "Sorry Molly, need to borrow Leila for a bit. I'll bring her back when you've calmed down!" he called over his shoulder as he dragged them both out.

Leila sighed in relief. "Is this going to be a regular thing? People yelling at me like that?"

"Not if I can help it." he said smiling at her. Then his smile faded. "But don't you think for even a moment I approve of what you did. You gave me a fucking heart attack!"

"I couldn't just leave. That little boy..." her voice trailed off. Sirius sighed and led her to the woods behind the property and they both settled under a tree.

"You should've come back and gotten us." he said flatly.

"There wasn't time. You should've seen what they did to that woman. How could I possibly turn my back on that?"

Sirius stared out into the horizon. He knew exactly what she meant. He would've done the same.

"When do we return to Hogwarts?"

"Later tonight. Though I don't know how long we'll be there. The attack on Hogsmeade has turned into a political shitstorm. Scrimgeour is blaming us."

"Us or me?" asked Leila quietly.

"Us." said Sirius firmly. "In fact, he was even more furious with us when it got out that _you_ were out fighting. He said we were doing a crap job of protecting you."

Leila winced. She could only imagine what the accusation would've done to Dumbledore.

"We're going to have to move out soon anyway."

"Because it's unsafe?"

"That and also because Hogwarts is technically public property. If Scrimgeour wants to cause us trouble, that'll be the first thing he will rain down on us with."

"Do we have an alternative HQ?"

Sirius smiled darkly. "Yeah. It should be okay to move into soon."

Leila wanted to ask more questions but something about Sirius' expression stopped her. He sighed and then stretched out in the grass and rested his head on her lap. Leila smiled lightly and lightly ran her hands through his hair. He hummed softly, content. She leaned back against the tree and closed her eyes, tired, her hands resting across his chest. Sirius too drifted to sleep.

She woke up with a start when a shadow fell across her face. Se blinked sleepily and looked up at James, who was looking at her with a quiet smile.

"Hey you. We're having supper now."

"Hmmmm..." she mumbled. "Later?"

James chuckled and sat next to her. She leaned her head against his shoulder and shut her eyes again. James's heart sang and he leaned his head against hers. Sirius stirred and mumbled. "Who's that?"

"It's Dad." mumbled Leila. "Go back to sleep, Siri."

"_Dad._" thought James to himself, his smile widening.

"Oh hey Prongs. You escaped Molly too?" Sirius said, stretching out and sitting up.

"She sent me to look for you two." Then he paused and glanced at Leila and said, "Cedric and Cecilia are here as well."

Leila's eyes snapped open, fully awake. Sirius narrowed his eyes.

"I'll be staying out here." muttered Leila. "Not hungry."

James put his arm around her and sighed. "Leila, I know this is hard but please... Cedric 's been worried about you. Please don't do this."

"Leave her alone, Prongs." said Sirius flatly.

James frowned at him. "Padfoot, c'mon. This can't go on forever. Leila, I know you loved Cedric but..."

"He's dead." said Sirius coolly. Leila flinched and James glared at him, wondering what his problem was.

"Sirius, shut up." snapped James.

"Maybe before you start shoving your daughter towards your little golden boy, why don't you ask her what happened two nights ago that made her come running in tears after meeting him?"

Leila's head snapped up and she stared at him. "I never met Cedric-" she began, struggling to get the lie out.

Sirius snorted. "Yeah? Because I don't see why else you'd come back and say-"

"Sirius!" hissed Leila, her eyes wide. Sirius's eyes widened too as he realized what he almost let slip in front of James.

James looked between the two of them with a curious expression.

Leila realized there was only one way out of this. She quickly got up and forced a smile on her face. "You're right. I should atleast talk to him."

James stared at her, unconvinced. Sirius looked murderous. Leila held out a hand to each of them and looked pleadingly at James. "I'd like a little support though. Please don't push me beyond what I can do. Is that acceptable?"

James' eyes softened. "Deal." He caught her hand and pulled himself up. Sirius glowered at her and she glared right back at him as if to say this was his fault anyway. He grumpily pulled himself up and Leila walked towards the house, her heart heavy, flanked by both of them, each one having very different hopes for the outcome of the meeting.

Cecilia had been sitting with Lily and she looked up, her eyes alight, the minute Leila came in. She got up, went up to her and took her hand.

"Leila, darling, how are you?" The kindness in her eyes and the genuine concern made Leila squirm. If anyone had a real reason to hate her, Cecilia and Amos did. But Cecilia had been extraordinarily kind and it made Leila feel worse about the way she was treating Cedric.

"Fine, Mrs Diggory. And you?"

Cecilia smiled shakily. Both of them stared at each other and understood exactly how the other person felt. Cecilia sighed and hugged her. "It'll be okay." muttered Leila, feeling like she ought to be the one comforting here. At least she didn't have to dig graves for her parents in this world when they popped in from the next. Leila knew Cecilia and Amos would probably be one of the few people who'd understand what a mind fuck all this was.

Leila and Cecilia pulled away and she looked around nervously. Cecilia smiled reassuringly at her. "Cedric is upstairs with Arthur." Leila grimaced at how easily Cecilia had understood her discomfort.

Lily was watching them closely. It was clear Cecilia had taken an enormous liking to Leila.

Leila shuffled off to the kitchen mumbling something about wanting to help Molly.

Cecilia smiled at Lily, James and Sirius and sat back down.

"How is she, really?"

"Holding up. She doesn't really say much." admitted Lily.

Cecilia nodded. "Cedric used to say the same thing about her. He used to be amazed at how much she'd take without flinching. He'd come back home every year with stories about Leila Potter and Merlin, it's astounding how much that child puts up with."

"What do you mean? asked James curious. Bhairava had only ever given them skeletal outlines of what went on.

"Oh every year there was some drama and she'd get sucked in, won't she? Cedric used to say she had a compulsive heroism disorder, finding herself in ridiculous situations just because she was trying to do the right thing." Cecilia smiled sadly. "I think I always knew he liked her, just from the way he spoke about her when he barely knew her."

Sirius's face was a stoic mask while Lily and James smiled. Cecilia looked at the two of them and her eyes softened. "Cedric told me what you did for him when Amos and I died... there. I can't even begin to thank you for everything."

"Please don't. Amos and you were our friends and Cedric is a hell of a boy." said Lily softly, gripping Cecilia's arm reassuringly.

Cecilia sighed. "I don't know how much of a friend Amos is to you now. He's different from what you know him to be. The peace time helped him rise in the Ministry and his opinions are different."

The three of them didn't say anything. They'd gauged as much from Amos's cold attitude towards the Order and his anger at Cedric's involvement with them. James struggled to reconcile this Amos with his dead friend.

"Cedric hasn't been coming home much, has he?" ventured James, troubled.

Cecilia sighed. "He and Amos... Cedric finds it difficult to be around him. His memories of his father are very different. Amos is looking for a replacement for the boy he lost but... That's not going to happen, is it? This Cedric is as much my boy as mine was, but he's different. He's grown up different and we were different parents too. Amos can't accept it."

"It'll be okay, Cecilia. The war, it changes people. Amos will come around. I'll talk to Cedric." said James softly.

Cecilia shook her head, looking troubled. "I don't know if it'll help, James. Cedric and Amos had been having a bit of a face off even before the realities collided. Cedric and I are more liberal in our views while Amos was rubbing shoulders with the purebloods in the Ministry and it was making him look at things differently. They were already in disagreement about a lot of things and it really reached a head when Cedric started seeing Leila."

"Why?" demanded Sirius, bristling. "Because she's halfblood?"

"Oh no, Amos isn't that bad. In fact he really liked her when they met at the World Cup. But..." she hesitated and looked at Sirius apologetically. "He wasn't keen on her associations with..."

"With an ex convict, a werewolf, a half giant and that she was Parseltongue?" said Sirius coldly.

Cecilia nodded, looking sad. "And all the rubbish Skeeter wrote about her after the Triwizard Tournament... I mean, it's Rita Skeeter for Merlin's sake! But he wouldn't listen."

"What are you talking about?" asked James, narrowing his eyes. Both Sirius and Cecilia looked terribly uncomfortable.

"A pretty young girl, a wild card entry into a high profile Tournament and not to mention she was already famous for being the Girl-Who-Lived... Throw a tabloid writer in the mix and what do you think will happen, James?" asked Sirius quietly.

James and Lily exchanged a long look.

"What exactly did she write- You know what? Forget it. I don't even want to know." said Lily wearily.

James and her were learning painfully that every time they found out something else about Leila's life, it was just proving to be more harrowing or heart breaking or both and they were reaching a point where they were afraid to even ask anything anymore.

Bill went into the kitchen and found Leila staring intently at the pot on the stove. "That can't be that interesting..."

"I'm meditating." she told him.

"With your face over a hot pot? Weirdo."

"I think a guy who wears a grass snake fang as a earring has lost all right to call anyone else a weirdo."

"It's a cobra fang."

"Yeah. Sure."

The stayed in companionable silence as he made her a cup of tea and handed it to her.

"How're you feeling?" he asked her.

"Completely off."

"Physical injuries?"

"And the weight of Hogsmeade."

"You fought good."

"Good enough to be in the Order?"

Bill slowly lowered his mug and looked at her carefully. "Yes. You fight as good as if not better than half the Order. But-"

"But I'm underage?"

"Among other reasons."

Leila stared at the pot. "It won't stop me fighting."

"I know. Fred and George are fighting to join as well. George is getting particularly good at quashing arguments against it. After what happened... I don't think he's slept at all."

Leila looked guilty. "I asked him to go with Fred. I didn't even know he'd followed me till it was too late."

"Don't feel guilty. He made the choice and I know he doesn't regret it one bit and six children were saved because of it."

"I put him in danger."

"This is war. We're all in danger anyway. And like I said, he made the choice. You have got to stop taking responsibility for everybody."

"Leila?" Both of them looked up to find Cedric standing there, looking uncertain. Bill quickly made himself scarce, leaving Leila alone with him. Cedric shifted from one foot to another.

He opened his mouth but Leila quickly cut him off, "I'm so sorry." she said softly. "For that night..."

Cedric shook his head. "I'm the one who should apologize. It was so wrong of me to come on to you like that..."

"I wasn't giving off very clear signals about what you could and couldn't do." pointed out Leila, flushing.

Cedric's hands automatically went to his lips, remembering the gentle way she had traced them. He hesitantly stepped closer to her and smiled cautiously, hopefully. He held out his hand and said, "Cedric Diggory."

Leila stared at him then smiled sadly. "Leila Potter."

Their hands touched and Cedric's fingers curled around hers, holding hers. They forgot to shake, staring at each other. Cedric's eyes traveled down, stopping at the gashes on her arms. He frowned and slowly turned her arms till they faced upwards where he could see the scars clearly.

"It's the same as yours." she told him, gesturing to his face.

"Yeah. Nasty curse, that one." Cedric muttered, running a finger along the length of the one in her right arm. "It'll sting for a few weeks."

"I don't think I even felt it, with the other injuries." admitted Leila.

Cedric looked grim, still not looking up. He stepped closer to examine the ones closer to her elbow, unconsciously stepping forward till he was right in front of her. Leila was distinctly aware of just how close he was and held her breath.

Someone cleared their throat loudly, making Cedric jump backwards. They looked around to see Sirius standing there, his face expressionless. But Leila had caught the angry flash in his eyes.

"Hey Mr Black." Cedric said looking relieved. He'd thought it was James.

Sirius looked at him coldly. Cedric frowned slightly at him in worry. Sirius never glared and much less at him.

"Cedric. Finishing up whatever happened that night?"

Leila stared at him wide eyed in horror. Cedric looked abashed, confirming Sirius's suspicions.

"I-I didn't mean to... I just... I would never have..."

"Never have what?" asked Sirius darkly.

"Sirius!" said Leila sharply. "That's enough. Don't speculate."

Sirius ignored her and continued to look at Cedric expectantly. "Go on."

"Cedric, could you please excuse us?" said Leila urgently.

But Cedric was staring at Sirius and he felt a surge of anger at the older man's cold rage. Cedric had caught the look in his eyes and at some level understood this wasn't a guardian talking but something else entirely. He looked at Sirius in the eye and said, "With all due respect, Mr Black, what transpired or ever transpires between Leila and I stays between us. If you have something specific to say, by all means, do go ahead. But anything else is strictly off bounds."

Sirius smiled dangerously. "Anytime you lay your hands on her, you'd do well to remember _you're_ the one out of bounds."

"Only if she doesn't want it." said Cedric coldly, standing to his full height.

"Any chance the two of you can stop talking about me like I'm not here?" asked Leila, tense and irritable.

Sirius stepped closer to her but Cedric reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her to his side, giving Sirius a challenging look.

"_What the hell?" _wondered Leila in alarm.

"If you don't mind, I was talking to Leila _alone_."

Sirius looked beyond furious. His face was blank but his eyes had taken a terrifying, depth-less quality and Leila knew that he was tipping close to the edge of the cliff into maddened rage.

She pulled away from Cedric and gave him an apologetic look. Cedric's expression tightened. He looked at Leila and said, "I'll see you later." He backed out from the kitchen. Sirius was staring at Leila with the same black look. She tentatively reached up and touched his face. "We were just talking. Please calm down." Sirius continued to stare at her. She sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into him. Slowly his arms came up and went around her and he held her to him.

"Stay away from him."

"Sirius..."

"I said, stay away from him."

"I can't do that."

"Because you _love_ him?" sneered Sirius coldly.

"I loved _my_ Cedric." she said wistfully. "I don't now what I feel about him now."

"All the more reason to stay away from him. He wants you."

Leila shivered at the way he said 'want'.

"Everything okay?" asked Remus, peeking his head in.

"Yes. Sod off." said Sirius curtly. Remus rolled his eyes and came into the kitchen and rather cheerfully pulled Leila to him. "Tough luck."

"You're all getting on my nerves." complained Leila. "What am I? Your security blanket? Stop dragging me about!" Remus just laughed and held her anyway.

They both missed the flash of annoyance in Sirius' face when Leila was pulled away from him.

They returned to Hogwarts late that night. Leila surveyed the castle feeling oddly unsettled. She had always assumed Hogwarts was the safe from external attack. Somehow, the magnificent castle looked diminished, as though mourning for the village. Remus seemed to know what she was thinking and gave her a sad smile.

"The wards held up. They couldn't enter the Hogwarts grounds." he told her.

"So close though." she murmured, looking sad. Blood and destruction near her first and only real home broke her heart.

They all trooped up to the Common Room in silence and sat there, not really speaking, melancholy thick in the air. The portrait opened. It was Dumbledore. He smiled at them, his eyes twinkling. "I'm sorry to intrude but I just wanted to check on Leila."

Leila sat up properly and gave him a wan smile. "I'm fine, sir. Is Aberforth alright?"

"Yes. He's doing well." Dumbledore gave her an appraising look. "He seems to have taken a great liking to you. It's quite something. I've never seen my brother take to any other human being before."

Leila wasn't sure what to say to that so she just shrugged. "How bad is the damage to the village?"

Dumbledore's eyes lost their twinkle. "More than half has been razed to the ground. Over fourteen people were killed."

"_Fourteen?_"

"Most of them at the eastern section, which you hadn't gotten to. And..." hes hesitated. "Around three people were kissed by the Dementors."

Leila closed her eyes and tried to block out the images. "Children?"

"No child died but they are traumatized, as you can imagine. One of the girls you and George rescued has asked after you. You've become quite the hero."

Leila opened her eyes and smiled bitterly. "Well, yes, someone should tell them their so-called hero is the reason all this happened."

"No it's not-," began Sirius and Lily angrily but Dumbledore cut him off, "The Order is responsible for this. Hogsmeade has always been a target but we were careful to protect it in the past. We've been so wrapped up in our day jobs at the Ministry because of all the chaos that we slipped up. And the fact that the Order HQ was at Hogwarts was also public knowledge. This was an attack on us as much as it was on you and we should've seen it coming."

Remus sighed in regret. "I specifically should've seen it coming. My only job is Order work and - this is my fault."

"No it's not." Dumbledore said firmly. "It was an oversight we _all_ made."

Leila pursed her lips and said, "You're short of hands."

"Yes, we are. And I'm so sorry that it was _you_ who had to fight instead of us. I'm not going to deny that your actions were reckless but you did a remarkable thing and for that, you have nothing but my utmost respect."

Leila nodded in gratitude, feeling tired and weighed down. "And I always will, Professor. You have my word."

"The hell you will..." began James, furiously.

"Actually, Potter, I think I have a solution." said Moody, climbing in as well, looking at Leila keenly. "Aberforth just gave me a blow-by-blow account of what happened. Apparently _you_ rescued _him_? From what he tells me, you're a hell of a fighter, Potter. Don't know where you've picked it up but I'm keen on helping you work on it."

Leila's face lit up. James and Lily looked furious. "Mad Eye, walk away before I hex you." said Lily through clenched teeth.

"No, listen to me. I'm not saying she should be an active member of the Order but if what happened today was any indication of how things are going to be, she's going to fight anyway, if not now, then later. I've retired and I'm going to be with the Order full time. I'm offering to train her for the next couple of years because James, Lily, whatever you want to think, she'll be out there. And you're doing her no favours by coddling her and depriving her of the ability to fight properly and protect herself."

"He's right." said Dumbledore gently. "And what with school closed, her learning avenues are cut off. It's for the best."

"And you should be proud, Potter senior." Mad Eye growled at James. "She beat an army. She's got your spirit. I'd love to have a kid with that ability and the balls to even try what she did today."

"If you actually had a kid, you wouldn't be so thrilled about their latent death wish." snapped back James although he had to admit he was rather proud.

"Touche. But I've trained a whole lot of you when you came in, just a little older than Potter junior. I won't know what to do with my time if I didn't have a group of annoying youngsters driving me up the wall. So yeah, what say Potter?"

"Yes." said Leila simply, beaming. "_Finally!"_ Nobody else looked happy but they had to concede that it was a valid point and stayed silent.

"Wonderful! This should tie up well with your other training as well." said Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling as he looked over at Leila with a sight smile.

"_Oh shit...He knows. Well, of course he does. Dumbledore knows everything and Snape probably told him anyway."_

"What other training?" asked Lily with a frown. "Is that what you get up to everyday when you disappear?"

"Erm, yes. I've been teaching myself defense spells." _"And Occlumency, but you don't need to know that."_

Dumbledore gave her a look that clearly indicated his disapproval of her hiding the truth. She returned his look.

She quickly turned to Moody and said, "So can we start tomorrow afternoon?"

"Tomorrow it is, Potter junior."

Leila got up, suddenly wanting to be somewhere she would've never dreamed that she'd want to go. She looked around at the Common room, at her family and she found, much to her astonishment that where she needed to be right now was elsewhere. The lives that were lost in Hogsmeade weighed on her, knotting her soul in guilt and holding her accountable. Her life stretched out now, clearer than it was hours ago. She was going to fight. And she was, in all probability, going to die trying to take Voldemort down. And she couldn't be here with her parents, Sirius or Remus, the weight of it and the darkness in high tide, unwilling to sully their brief moment of contentment and calm. This was her burden alone.

"Where are you going?" asked Remus, curiously.

She smiled vaguely. "I need a walk. Don't wait up."

"Where?"

"Just around. Good night."

She found herself in the dungeons and he looked up at her, hiding his surprise.

"What are you doing down here this late, Potter?" asked Snape.

"It worked. Sort of. It kept the pain at bay and I could see his thoughts with clarity."

"You're supposed to be blocking him."

"I know. I'll get there. Soon. Thank you."

Snape looked taken aback. Then he put his book down and looked at her intently. "Why aren't you up with your parents?"

"Too bright." she said quietly, wondering if he'd understand. "It hurts my eyes and I makes me feel darker inside."

He stared at her, long and hard. He understood perfectly.

He got up and went to the cabinet behind his desk. Pulling out two glasses, he poured out two glasses of cognac and came back to the desk. He motioned for to sit down on the chair across the table. Handing her a glass, he took the other one and sat across from her. Raising it slightly, "For the ones who died last night. A drink, in their honour."

Leila raised her glass too. She knew he wouldn't tell her it wasn't her fault. She knew he'd understand.

She gulped the entire drink down. Snape got up and poured her another one,

They sat in silence together, long after their glasses were empty, in the dark, waiting for day to dawn.

**A/N: Thank you all for the lovely, heart warming reviews for the previous chapter! **

**Sorry about this one though. There wasn't much split movement and it was reflective of a post battle lull. I though the interactions in this chapter were important but I wanted it inserted into the previous or the upcoming chapter but it didn't sit right in either and hence this gets a chapter of its own. The story will progress next chapter in terms of plot development. **


	22. Chapter 22

Her eyes snapped open in the dark and she stared about her, confused.

Leila was used to a lot of bizarre dreams and even the pain inducing Voldemort ones. But last night had been another league altogether.

She couldn't remember the images or what happened but she remembered the yawning emptiness. It was so dark and there was _nothing._ Leila wondered if it was a black hole. And she remembered the sensation of something growing, something unbidden, cold and lethal.

She recalled a specific memory of Voldemort's that she had accessed in the graveyard. The Shivite monks were pleading with Voldemort, begging him to stay away, telling him that magic like this opened doors to forces that he could never understand, of darkness that he knew nothing off. He'd laughed at them, secure in his belief that he knew everything to darkness there was.

Leila pondered her dream and felt a slow, gnawing fear and an inescapable sense that Voldemort had, in his arrogance and refusal to understand limitations and consequences, unleashed something far greater, something that had begun festering as soon as the realities collided.

Leila had to physically shake her head and force herself to properly wake because the notion that something worse than Voldemort was being borne was not something she wanted to even remotely contemplate.

She wondered where she was. She had fallen asleep sitting on a hard chair, with a cloak thrown over her. The room was cold, dark and very familiar.

_"The dungeons!"_

She groaned and got up, briefly surprised because only Snape could've covered her with an old cloak. It was surprisingly thoughtful of him. He was nowhere to be seen though. She found a single note on the desk.

_11 am, Occlumency. Don't be late._

She quietly slid out, wondering what story she ought to make up for her all night absence. She honestly hadn't meant to stay at the dungeons and had only mean to pop in briefly and return to the tower but the companionable silence with a man with disliked her well enough to keep it real without coddling her or forcing her to talk had been a relief and she'd needed the it to be able to properly mourn Hogsmeade.

She tip toed past the Great Hall, trying to access the stairs to the tower without attracting attention and promptly crashed into someone. She looked up at the less than cordial face of Remus Lupin.

"Hullo!" she said brightly, trying to go the Fred and George way whenever they were in trouble with Molly. It did her no favours and only seemed to make Remus testier.

"Where were you all last night? We waited for hours and we didn't find you in your dorm this morning either."

"I was feeling a bit restless. I kept wandering till I finally crashed in the Astronomy Tower." she lied, wondering if she sounded convincing.

Remus's face showed no signs of lessened annoyance. It made Leila nervous because he never had that expression when he looked at her. "You can't keep disappearing like this. We didn't like it before but we wanted to give you space. But-"

"I know." she said hastily. "I didn't mean to, I promise. I just lost track of time." '_Not a complete lie...'_

Remus said, coldly, "James and Lily are still too tentative around you to say anything but I can tell you that they weren't happy at all. And Sirius held his peace because the memory of your recent spat is still fresh in his mind and he doesn't want to start shouting again. Which leaves me to do this. You are not allowed to vanish like that in the evenings. Do you understand? Breakfast with us. Lunch with me. Dinner with us and we spend time in the night. This is not a discussion or a request."

Leila flinched at the anger in his tone and she knew she deserved it. "Understood." she said in a small voice. "I'm so sorry, Remus. I really, really didn't mean to go AWOL like that." She marvelled at the fact that things that she had always taken for granted, like the freedom to go off grid when she pleased, was now subject to approval and she actually had a curfew that people expected her to keep. It was a bit surreal.

Remus relaxed.. "You're forgiven. But never again. Is that clear?"

Leila nodded, relieved that he had calmed down. "Where is everybody?"

"They left early. I'm sure Sirius told you what's happening..."

"That the Ministry is now pissed with the Order because of what's happened at Hogsmeade?"

"Yes. And the Aurors are running mad shifts, tightening security in public places."

The next few weeks went in a blur, Leila now far too busy with Occlumency and Moody's training. They both exhausted her and she started sleeping better for it.

Despite Remus's insistence that she stay for dinner, she ended up eating alone in the kitchens anyway because the over-worked and harried Order had meetings late into the night and Order business was now 24/7. James and Sirius were never around although Lily tried to return to the common room by midnight at the least and spend some time with her.

Leila found that her and Lily were very, very different people and rather than upset her, she enjoyed the differences. They were able to talk easily and it was clear that Lily, unlike James, had made peace with the fact that her daughter was a fifteen year old and not five and sought to be a friend rather than an overbearing parent. Leila found that Lily shared plenty of personality traits with Hermione and was in awe of how smart her mother was, slowly starting tom look up to her. She kept asking her questions about the other reality and how the Cold War had progressed and whether anyone had actually used nuclear weapons again. It turned out that East Germany was hit first because it became a boiling point with multiple standoffs. Leila took great pleasure in telling Lily that the Berlin Wall had come down six years ago.

"That's wonderful." said Lily, her eyes bright.

"You don't think... The muggle wars will start here as soon as Voldemort goes all out, will they?" asked Leila uncertainly.

Lily sighed and said, "Probably. Voldemort likes to attack high profile muggle areas and everyone in the muggle world obviously assumes it's a terrorist attack and.."

"And it goes south." finished Leila, glumly. "Well, atleast the Cold War is sort of over. Nobody will _start_ by nuking anyone though that could well be the way it ends."

"You're very attached to the muggle world..." said Lily, curiously.

"Well, yeah. I grew up in a muggle house. And I took interest in current affairs because.. well, I think when I was younger it was just that I didn't want to be a moron like Dudley." Leila chuckled. "But then I genuinely took an interest in history and science. Although, a lot of my understanding of science is warped now because magic isn't easily explained by primary school science"

"Yes, but I'm muggleborn. And I never, and as far as I know none of the muggleborns I know, ever took that much interest in the that world once they become part of the wizarding world. And you've had a terrible time there too..." said Lily softly. "I guess, I just don't understand."

Leila looked thoughtful. "Yeah, I've seen that with my friends as well. Pop culture references have started going over Hermione's head completely. And Dean Thomas, a muggle born boy in my year, is a lot like that too, unless you count the English Premier League. West Ham United Football Club is his first great love so he hasn't let go... But yeah, I know what you mean. It's weird. I don't get how they can be like that. I always have one foot there."

Lily eyed Leila's tight jeans, her casual tank top and said wryly, "You have a foot and a half there. It's like you visit the magical world occasionally. Not that it's a bad thing; it's endearing."

Or atleast Lily thought so. She knew that it was worrying James and he had complained to her on multiple occasions that Leila seemed to have no clue about things in the wizarding world aside from general current affairs, Quidditch and her mad skills when it came to DADA. She always seemed bemused in social situations and was baffled when people referred to common wizarding things or phrases.

Leila smiled lightly and said, "So you're not upset about it, like Dad?"

Lily was taken aback. "Dad's not upset about it-" she began but stopped when Leila's smirk grew more pronounced.

"Oh alright, it bugs him. He's a pureblood wizard, Leila. His family goes way back and if you'd grown up with us, the muggle world would be incomprehensible to you. Every time you make a muggle reference or look uncomfortable or out of place in the wizarding world, it reminds him that you were raised by muggles and abusive ones at that. It's a good thing Charlus isn't here to see this."

"Who?"

Lily grimaced, glad she hadn't said that in front of James. "Charlus Potter, sweetheart. Your grandfather. He and your grandmother Dorea were one of the nicest people I've ever met and they never minded that I was a muggleborn. But I have no doubt that if he were here, Charlus would've locked you in a room and never let you out till you memorized the entire Potter family tree and he'd have personally ensured you were completely de-muggled."

Leila laughed. "He's probably turning in his grave right now."

Lily chuckled. "Probably. James is literally holding himself back from channeling his father right now and giving you a forced re-education."

Leila grinned. "I've improved over the last year after living with Sirius and Remus. I drove them both mad asking them to explain everything, especially Remus."

"I heard my name!" called a voice from the other side of the portrait. Remus climbed in and collapsed on the sofa next to Leila and shut his eyes.

"Long day?" asked Leila, sliding up to him and kissing him on the cheek. He draped an arm around her shoulder and nodded. Lily watched them with a pang of longing. Leila would've never done that to James. She was getting more liberal with the hugs with both of them but it was clearly something that didn't come instinctively to her. And it was obvious that Remus was still the father figure, as a tired and grumpy James had remarked to Lily a few nights ago.

Lily knew Leila wasn't doing it intentionally and that she was still warming up to the two of them. Remus had even assured her that it had taken close to a year of being her teacher and confidante before Leila became comfortable around him. But it didn't stop her from wishing Leila would come and curl up around her or James the way she did with Remus and Sirius.

The portrait swung open again and Dumbledore climbed in. He looked tired and worried. "Ah! Leila! I was hoping I'd find you here."

"Professor?"

"I was wondering if you could accompany me for a few hours."

"Where to?" asked Lily a little sharply. But Leila knew immediately what this was about. The time had come for her to know about the prophecy. She wondered what bought it on. It was already really late into the night.

Leila got up, her face giving away nothing. Lily and Remus were both looking at Dumbledore with narrowed eyes. He studiously kept his line of sight averted from them.

Dumbledore and Leila silently walked out to the gate.

"Is this what I think this is about?" asked Leila finally.

Dumbledore surveyed her and sighed deeply. "I'm afraid so."

"Why tonight?"

"The security lapses at the Ministry are becoming too many and Scrimgeour's attitude towards us is less than welcoming. I suspect our access to the Ministry will soon be barred. I'm so sorry, Leila. I was trying to buy you more time but-"

"It's fine, Professor. I've been long ready."

Dumbledore looked at her sadly. "I wish I could..." he trailed off.

Leila gave him a sad smile. "It really is fine, sir. I'll be okay, whatever it says. I won't have another meltdown, I promise. I'm better now."

"That's not what I'm worried about. I'm sorry you had to be involved at all. I wish I could keep you safe and out of all this."

"I think the ship sailed on that a long time ago." she told him wryly.

"Indeed. You have never tried side-apparition, have you? It's strictly not allowed but I don't want to risk prolonged travel."

A few minutes later, as Leila stood at the Ministry entrance, she couldn't help thinking she'd risk prolonged travel the next time. She still couldn't shake that squeezed feeling. Dumbledore looked around at the empty, desolate Ministry building. The whole place had a look of erstwhile grandeur. It looked abandoned and gone to seed and Leila had a feeling it wasn't just because it was late at night but this is how the building permanently looked these days. She wondered if her Dad and Sirius were in the building too. Although, seeing as Dumbledore was being all secretive, it was highly unlikely they knew about the little field trip.

As they walked through the Department of Mysteries, Leila had to fight the urge to go up to all the strange instruments and artifacts and examine them. The entire place whirred with mystical energy.

They finally reached the prophecy room and walked through the tall shelves, finally reaching the one they were looking for.

The orb glimmered a haunting blue and Leila had to squint to see the inscription on it.

_L.P & T.D.L_

_S.T. to A.D._

"A.D.? It's you, isn't it?"

"Yes. And S.B. is Sybill Trelawney."

"You're joking!"

"She made the prediction the night I hired her. The prophecies in this room can only be retrieved by the people who they are pertinent to."

"So only Voldemort or I can get it?"

"Yes. I've been having the Order stand guard over this for the last couple of months. But now, I can no longer guarantee its safety with Scrimgeour turning against us and half his people already having tipped to the dark side."

Leila hesitated and reached out to pick it up. It felt strangely warm in her hands. She glanced up at Dumbledore. "Perhaps it would be for the best if we destroyed it?"

He nodded and held out his wand and murmured a spell. A circle of silver light spun out from his wand tip and spread out till it encompassed he entire room. He nodded in satisfaction. "No one is here and we won't be overhead. Go ahead."

Leila held it out and gently opened her hand, her fingers letting go. The orb smashed to the ground and the spectre of Trelawny rose, softly intoning into the darkness of the room.

Albus gave the girl next to him a worried look as they both left the Ministry building. She was very, very quiet, having a faraway look on her face.

"It's a lot to take in..." he began. Leila smiled up at him wanly. "I'm fine, Professor. I already knew I was either going to bring him down or die trying. It's just that it feels more heavily dependent on me. I can't lose and that worries me. I never expected to win."

Dumbledore closed his eyes in pain. "Is that what you're training for, Leila? Your inevitable death?"

"My inevitable, honourable death, where I go down fighting and take as many of them as possible with me."

Dumbledore thought back to when he was fifteen. He remembered what he had done when he was older, when he was seventeen. It made him wonder how Leila Potter turned out the way she did. She was beyond remarkable. He recalled what Aberforth said to him last week, in one of his angry moods.

_"She looks up to you. Do you think she will feel the same way if she new what you really were like at her age? You're walking her to her death. She's dispensable to you, isn't she? Everybody is. I am, Arianna was and finally, even the man you loved was just an inconvenience. Have you ever visited Grindelwald all these years, where he's wasting away? He was your one true love but you never even went to comfort him, to even try and offer redemption. Only chance saved you from turning into him but that hasn't stopped you from strutting around like you're Merlin's incarnate. You're a nasty piece of work and you'll destroy Potter, just like you destroy everything else."_

"You won't lose." he told her with a quiet ferocity, Aberforth's words stabbing like a knife to his spleen. His brother knew exactly where to push the blade in to make it hurt the most. "He's already met his match in you four times and you're but a child!"

"It's all down to sheer dumb luck, Professor. Let's not kid ourselves about it being anything to do with me." she said dryly.

"That's not true. You already have the greatest weapon of them all, the one that he can never understand. You have your heart. And that is enough."

"Uh huh. My heart's not entirely up for facing his homicidal lunacy, sir."

"I'll do what it takes to ensure you're ready to face him when the time comes."

"I do have a small request for now."

"Anything."

"There's this incredible ice cream shop in Soho that's open all night. They do rather inventive flavours. Ice cream's a great mood lifter and I think we've both earned it tonight. What do you think?"

Dumbledore laughed, his eyes twinkling. "That's the best idea I've heard in a long time."

Leila came back to the Common Room, feeling completely down and out of it. Whatever she may have told Dumbledore, the prophecy weighed heavily on her. She looked around and found that it was empty. She wondered where everyone disappeared to.

_"Then again, it is really late and seeing as I was with Dumbledore, there wasn't any cause to worry."_

She sat on the large armchair and wished Hermione and Ron were here. She had no intention of divulging the contents of the prophecy to anyone but them. She was surprised to learn just how dependent she was on both of them.

_"What if I fail?"_ she wondered bleakly. _"Everyone will die."_ She thought of her parents, who'd already died for her once and felt a strong urge to go find them. She got up and went up the stairs to the boys doors. She knew Remus, Sirius and Gideon had picked a dorm each and her parents had one. She picked a door arbitrarily and found Remus there. He was wide awake. His eyes softened with obvious relief at the sight of her. "You're back... What happened?"

She gave him a small smile and said, "I really don't want to talk about. Remus, do you know where... my parents are?" Remus stared at her and then his entire face lit up.

"Two doors down." he said gently. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, honey."

She found the door and hesitated outside of it. It was left partially open. Hoping she wasn't interrupting something that would scar her for life, she tentatively peeked in. Lily and James had pushed two beds together and formed a single large one. They were both asleep, James's arms wrapped tight around his wife, her head nestled in the crook of his neck. She slowly approached their bed, taking in the sight, feeling joy and despair war inside of her. They looked perfect, content. Leila knew how it could end. She saw it every time a Dementor came near her.

_"I won't fail you."_ she thought fiercely, standing by the bed, looking at her parents. _"I will not allow anything to happen to you this time."_

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, watching them. At some point she felt someone else behind her and looked up. It was Sirius. He was leaning against the door frame, his face holding an expression that seemed to mirror hers. She held his gaze and she knew he understood. He'd lost all three of them between both his lives and the war didn't look like it was going their way this time either. She stepped away from the bed and quietly exited the room, shutting the door behind her. She smiled warily at him and said very softly. "Now that I have my parents, do you feel up to being the godfather who's a bad influence?"

He smiled. "Are you kidding? When James asked me, I made a list of all the things we were going to do without telling your parents. Sadly, Lily found that list and let's just say that being heavily pregnant does not slow that woman down."

Leila grinned. "I could use a drink."

He smiled wider and straightened up. "That, Prongslette, was number 7 on the list." Leila followed him to the dorm he'd claimed for his own. She stepped in and went to his bed and sat down. He conjured glasses and pulled out a bottle of amber liquid.

"Welcome to the wonderful, happy world of Firewhisky." he said with a grin. She took her glass and took a large sip. It burned her throat and she felt the warm liquid slide down to her belly. She loved it. It was a taste she instantly associated with Sirius. He sat next to her and chuckled. "Take it slow. I don't want you drunk on the first night you try something strong."

They slowly drained the glasses they were holding and moved on to the next one and another one till they both lost count. At some point, Leila tipped back onto his bed, her head spinning slightly.

"I don't see you anymore." she babbled. "It sucks. I want to go to our apartment in London where you, me and Remus can hang out. Mum and Dad can have my room and I'll take the couch."

Sirius fell back too and said sleepily, "No need for that. I have plenty of space in my bed. We can bunk together."

Leila nodded and said, "Good idea. It'll be easier for us to sneak out together and ride your motorcycle."

"Should we go now?" mumbled Sirius, using his free arm to pull her to him.

Leila sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. "If only. I hate Voldemort."

"Understatement of the century."

"That whisky of yours is something else entirely..." Leila mumbled, feeling warm and content, her nose brushing against his soft linen shirt.

"Lightweight," he responded, teasingly.

"Give me a few more nights of this and I'll win any drinking game with you."

"And your winning prize will be your father beating me to death." said Sirius, shivering at the thought. "By the way, if you ever tell him I plied you with alcohol-"

"It's our secret." Leila said reassuringly, closing her eyes and leaning into his body, her exhaustion finally catching up.

"Where did Dumbledore take you tonight?"

"Ice cream! Do you remember that place Remus found last summer?"

"Where else?"

"Siri... Don't go there. I'll need an entire bottle after that."

"Why won't you tell me? Did you tell Remus?" his voice held an undercurrent.

"No. Nobody knows. Not today, Sirius. Tonight I want whisky and you."

His eyes stirred with something she didn't recognize at her words. He drained his glass in one go and kept it aside. He took her almost finished glass and put it away as well. He pulled her body flush against hers and she rested her head against his shoulders, her lips brushing against the side of his neck.

"Leila..." he whispered throatily, his hands roving her back in a comforting, circular pattern. Leila hummed in contentment.

"Stop keeping secrets from me. It drives me mad." he grumbled.

Leila stilled as Snape's face flashed in her mind. She toyed with the idea of saying something. The last time she had kept something from him, it had exploded in both their faces. She bit her lip and then quietly whispered. "There is something I need to tell you, but don't get mad okay?"

She got silence in reply. She craned her neck up and realized he had fallen asleep and she was relieved. She closed her eyes as well and drifted to sleep as well.

Leila woke up the next day and found herself in an otherwise empty bed and a note folded by her pillow.

_Had to run. Emergency. _

_Didn't want to wake you. You looked so peaceful._

_- __S_

She found a very stressed out looking Remus in the Great Hall an hour later. "What was the emergency?"

"Attack in Cornwall. They killed everyone in the village."

Leila slumped further down in her her chair, suddenly hating herself for having slept dreamlessly last night. Her Occlumency training allowed her to seal her mind off from Voldemort but it still alerted her when something major happened and if she'd been a little less peaceful last night, she'd have sensed it.

Remus narrowed his eyes at her guilty expression. "There is absolutely no reason for you to look like that."

"I should've seen it coming-"

"No. You shouldn't have. And it's highly unlikely we would've gotten there in time to stop it even if you'd seen it."

"We might've been able to save a few-"

"Leila, stop. You should be nowhere near his mind. Is that clear?"

Leila nodded, dispirited. She decided to head to the dungeons early and pass on her bad mood to Snape rather than Remus. The man was so moody it would make no difference anyway. Just as she got up, she heard a commotion outside on the grounds. Remus and her stared at each other in alarm. Both of them drew their wands, Remus shoving her behind him as he stood protectively in front of her.

The door was thrown open and in strode a tall, heavy built man who reminded Leila of a lithe lion, his eyes sharp and his entire body poised for war. He walked with a slight limp. He was flanked by a group of men who were wearing robes that senior Ministry representatives wore on official occasions. Leila's eyes widened as she spotted Amos Diggory and Percy Weasley in the group. Her brief moment of relaxation on realizing it was the ministry and not death eaters vanished instantly. Amos Diggory looked too smug and too cold and Percy Weasley had made his distaste of the Order clear in his refusal to deal with hi family anymore. Leila had a bad feeling about this and judging from Remus's tensed body in front of hers, he shared her sentiments.

The lion mad looked at Remus sharply and said, "Put your wand down, Mr Lupin. I'm sure you're aware of who I am. And seeing as the Hogwarts and the Order's wards let me in, you can be rest assured that I'm no impostor."

Remus slowly lowered his wand but he showed no signs of relaxing. "Minister." he said calmly. "My apologies. Unannounced appearances do tend to set us at edge."

"Minister?" Leila whispered softly. The lion man heard her and peered at her over Remus's head.

"Why Miss Potter, what a delight to find you here. It is you we come in search of."

Remus had his wand out faster than anyone could blink. "In that case, Minister, perhaps you should return when Professor Dumbledore or her parents are here. You have no business with a minor alone."

"Expelliarmus."

Remus's wand soared over his head and was caught by the man who disarmed him - Amos Diggory.

Leila felt a rage course through her as she spotted the glint in his eye and the way he looked at Remus. She stepped out from behind Remus and said quietly, "That was uncalled for, Mr Diggory."

"The werewolf should know his place. He had his wand out at the Minister of Magic."

"The werewolf is my guardian. He has every right to have his wand out at anyone who storms in and demands to have a chat with me."

"I would remind you to hold your tongue, Miss Potter. I don't need to be told how to deal with a creature like him."

Leila saw red. She pulled out her own wand and stepped forward. Remus grabbed her arm and shook his head. "Don't. Not now."

Leila forced herself to relax. She knew if she did anything, the repercussions would fall on Remus rather than her.

"What do you want, Minister?"

"I need you to come with me, Leila. Can I call you that? Leila?"

Leila didn't answer him. She looked at him carefully. "Where?"

"Just outside, by the Lake. I want to talk to you in private."

"And if I decline?"

Scrimgeour sighed. "Don't make me force my hand."

"Is that a threat?"

"If you don't come, I will take Mr Lupin in for questioning."

"For what? On what grounds do you think you can do that?"

"We don't need ground. Dangerous magical creatures who are armed with a wand can be questioned without a warrant." said Diggory coldly. She slowly turned to him and said, "He's a wizard and he's entitled to his wand like everybody else."

"If you must take me in, so be it." said Remus, cutting Leila off. "I'm afraid Leila stays here."

Scrimgeour nodded and said, "So be it."

Diggory and a few more of the officials stepped forward and grabbed Remus. One of them conjured chains that fastened themselves around Remus ankles, wrists and throat and they tugged him forward with that.

Leila had enough. She pointed her wand and said, "Reducto." The chains cracked into two and fell away.

The ministry officials spun around, all their wands out and pointing at her.

"How dare you-" fumed Diggory.

"How dare _you? _He's not an animal you chain up and drag around the place! And he was coming along willingly!"

"Leila, please." whispered Remus, looking genuinely afraid for her.

Scrimgeour smiled. "I'll be happy to leave him here, untouched, if you agree to come with me, Leila."

"Out of the question." said Remus angrily but Leila stared at the remnants of the chains around him and made up her mind. Whatever they were going to do to her, they'd do worse to Remus.

"Agreed." said Leila flatly.

"No!" snarled Remus, turning to her and glaring. But Scrimgeour had already reached out and grabbed her arm and pulled her away. The others trained their wands at Remus, keeping him from attacking them.

"I'll be only a few minutes, Mr Lupin. I'm afraid my people are going to stay here with you to ensure you afford me the time without interruption. Your ward will come to no harm, I promise you."

Leila silently followed him out, throwing one last look at Remus, who looked at her mutinously. She realized she was breaking some sort of unspoken code here but it was too late to back away now.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Aaaand I've managed to get another chapter in before I set off for a three day trek to catch the last of the almost-fully retreated summer in the September air, the woodsy green and no internet, in defiance of the new world order :P**

**Have a great weekend everybody and if your part of the world has some sun, go get some! I just saw a retailer put out Christmas stuff on the shelves and it made me facepalm. Is it just me or are they doing this earlier every year? Consumerists! ^_^***

Leila and Scrimgeour silently walked up to the lake, neither attempting to make any conversation. Finally, on reaching the banks, Scrimgeour sat down by the water and patted the ground next to him, inviting her to join him.

It was very chummy and it sent Leila into high alert. She knew the Prime Minister must really desperately seek something from her if he'd taken the morning after a terrible attack to come and make nice with her. She sat down and stayed silent, waiting for him to speak first.

He smiled in what he must've assumed was a winning manner.

"I'm so sorry this had to be so unpleasant. It was not my intention that it should go this way."

"And yet it has. It's funny how every encounter I have with the Ministry of Magic leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth."

"I was given to understand that your relationship with Cornelius Fudge was cordial?"

"It was. But that doesn't necessarily mean I was overly fond of him."

"You aren't alone in harbouring that sentiment. It is a waonder as to how he managed to stay in power for that long."

Leila didn't reply, choosing to stay silent and break the conversation, hoping to pressure him into getting to the point.

"I'm not Cornelius Fudge." he told her, sounding firm.

"No, I suppose you're not. But seeing as how Fudge never forced me to talk to him and held my guardian in chains like he's a dangerous stray, I'm more inclined to like him at the moment."

Scrimgeour said, "Sorry." He didn't sound particularly contrite and in Leila's mind, it was strike one.

"Very convincing apology, that." Leila said sarcastically.

"I'm not your enemy, Leila. I'm trying to protect you and the wizarding world. I would've never let the Death Eaters anywhere near you. The incident in Hogsmeade-"

"-was entirely my doing. I defied the Order's command to get to safety and chose to stay and fight instead. It was a decision I made entirely on my own."

"I see. That being said, you're quiet adept at it. Your parents must be proud."

"Minister, why don't we stop pretending this is about your concern for me and get to the heart of the matter?" asked Leila, finally fed up with his refusal to stop with the chit chat. Remus was still being held at wand point.

Scrimgeour looked at her appraisingly. He'd heard plenty about Leila Potter, both good and bad. But even he was taken aback at how calm she was and how quickly she seemed to assessed the situation.

"Very well, Leila. I will not continue to insult your intelligence and I expect you to extend the same courtesy to me."

"You have no right to any expectations after the stunt you just pulled." Leila said coldly.

"That's a bit rich coming from a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Your organization is constantly stepping on the toes of the Ministry, running a parallel resistance movement and always having their own agenda-"

"Like helping you organize a coup to overthrow the Prime Minister to get _you_ into power?"

"We agreed it was for the best at the time. Our views have diverged since then about how to handle this war."

"How convenient. And what do I have to do with this?"

"The Order of the Phoenix -"

"-has nothing to do with me. I'm not a member."

Scrimgeour looked taken aback. Leila smirked. "Oh, you didn't see that coming, did you? It's an organization of adult wizards and witches who work against Voldemort. I have no say in what goes on in there nor am I privy to anything the Order gets up to."

He knew instantly she wasn't lying. "Interesting." he mused.

Leila cocked her head at him slightly. "What is your problem with them anyway? Did you not get along in the other reality?"

Scrimgeour frowned. "Quite the contrary, Leila. The Order was the only coherent resistance to the Dark Lord, the Ministry far too infiltrated. I was part of the Department of Law Enforcement, previously having worked as an Auror alongside your father. I support their intentions but I believe the Ministry stands a chance here and that we can galvanize the forces against the Death Eaters. But the Order is proving to be less than cooperative. They need to understand that this reality is different and this world has seen a decade of peace and their war tactics are fallible-"

"Peacetime is over. Your ministry is overburdened by red tape and has no idea how to fight." Leila pointed out.

Scrimgeour's face darkened. "You sound like Dumbledore. Nobody, not even the great Order of the Phoenix has the right to overstep authority. If you don't work with us, you work against us."

"That's counter productive." Leila said with a frown.

"Hogsmeade happened because of them."

"It happened because of me. Voldemort wanted to teach me a lesson. ANd speaking of which, at least the Order showed up and fought. Where the hell were your people?"

Scrimgeour looked like he was struggling to keep a check on his tongue. Frowning at her, he said, "Firstly, I cannot blame _Leila Potter_ for-"

"Ah..." said Leila softly. "And right there, we've reached the heart of the matter. You wont blame _me_. Why not, Minister?"

Scrimgeour looked sour on being called out on what he was trying to be more crafty about. "You are a symbol of hope. You've always been. Nobody knows how you defeated him and with all due respect, I don't care how and why you survived. The point is, you did. And we need that now. We need someone to stand as a powerful symbol for us."

"You want me to be publicly state my support for the ministry." said Leila bluntly.

"Yes."

"I can't do that."

"Why not? You have nothing to lose, it'll give you a solid task and it'll help you stay in the loop, which I suspect the Order don't allow."

Leila smiled. "I'm impressed, Minister. They were right when they said you were clever. In under a few minutes you've figured out exactly which buttons to push."

Scrimgeour smiled easily. "Thank you, Leila."

"Impressive as it is, I'm afraid I'm still going to have to decline."

Scrimgeour leaned forward, unperturbed by her refusal. "I'll make it worth your while. You will have access to the Auror department and any ministry official. You can accompany me to all the meetings and I will get you a place in the Ministry's emergency war cabinet."

"Again, I'm flattered. But I'm fifteen. I know squat about the wizarding world and its politics and I'm pathologically incapable of pandering to authority. The only thing you'll achieve is to shine a spotlight on me and tell Voldemort exactly where to attack and more people, possibly your people, will die."

Scrimgeour started to say something but Leila cut him off. "And if I stand for the Ministry, it would imply I support everything you do."

Scrimgeour's eyes narrowed further. "Are you saying you don't?"

"Not you personally, Minister. But the rest of your ministry? I have no interest in acting as a front for your racist, bigoted colleagues. I don't share the ministry's views on the importance of wizarding blood or your attitude towards other magical creatures like house elves and werewolves."

"You were raised by muggles. You have no idea how these things work."

"And I have no intention of ever learning either. These views are not very different from Voldemort's."

"That's a dangerous thing to say-"

"But it's true. Minister, you know my answer. Nothing will make me change my mind, I'm sorry."

Scrimgeour now viewed her with open dislike. "The divided realities have already muddled everyone's head and I cannot have allow the confusion to compound by creating alternate fronts against Voldemort. If you and the Order work outside of our purview, you are the enemy as well."

Leila looked at him sharply. "Are you threatening us, Minister? Because as you just pointed out, people still think I'm some sort of battle flag against Voldemort and Dumbledore still commands universal respect. I'd tread carefully if I were you."

Scrimgeour smiled coldly. "Dumbledore is an old man with archaic views - a sentiment shared by many of the rising young in the ministry. He's also made enough enemies and people are paranoid enough to want hard action. And you, Miss Potter, can be discredited easily enough. Rita Skeeter's article is still fresh in everyone's memory."

Leila noticed that she was now 'Miss Potter' and not 'Leila' anymore. She knew the battle lines had been drawn and she dropped her pseudo friendly facade as well. "You're threatening turning the people against us? I'm starting to think Voldemort's already bought you into his fold."

Scrimgeour started back, as though he had been touched by a high voltage open wire. "How dare you, you stupid girl! I? The Dark side? You and that fool Dumbledore don't realize what damage you're doing. You're up on your high horses, oblivious to the fact that you're dividing the forces of light, further empowering You Know Who! You think you're the end all of everything, that you're the only ones with a right to say how the fight goes or that you're the only one who cares enough! You arrogant child!"

Leila smiled grimly. "What can I say, Minister? The 'with us or against us' principle is yours, Minister. I'm just borrowing it to make a point."

Scrimgeour stared hard at her. "Very well, Miss Potter. If this is the choice you have made, so be it. But you will not be privy to any more favours from the Ministry of Magic."

"What a colossal loss." Leila said snidely. She was feeling a bit queasy but she wasn't keen on letting him know that.

Scrimgeour got up and sneered down at her. "Amos Diggory has started voicing the opinion that given that there were no witnesses at his son's murder, it may not have been the Dark Lord, but _you_ who killed him. If he creates enough doubt in the right people's mind, you'll find yourself being hauled up for a trial. And after what your stand today, you'll find that no one in my office will come to your aid."

Leila stared at him in shock. "You're joking..."

"No, I'm not. I will be off now, Miss Potter. I do hope for your sake it doesn't come to that. It would be tragic for your your own father to have to arrest you on the Ministry's orders, wouldn't it?"

Leila stood up, furious. "Was that your last threat, Minister? What did you think I would do? Cry? Plead my allegiance to you? I loved Cedric Diggory, irrespective of what his father may think and you and I both know it was Voldemort. I dare you to stand aside and let this happen, Minister." she said in a low, angry tone.

He glowered back at her. "It's my job to do the right thing. If locking you up to bring the Order to heel is what I have to do, so be it. And in any case, you might be safer in our prison than with Dumbledore."

"Which prison?" sneered Leila, "The last great stronghold of yours was broken into, remember?"

Scrimgeour grit his teeth and turned away and strode back to castle. She stood there, taking deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down. Then she sprinted after him, worried about Remus.

They were gone by the time she got there. Remus was alone, white faced and very, very angry.

"Are you alright?" she asked him anxiously, as he picked up his wand.

"Fine." he said curtly, holding out his wand. His wolf patronus erupted from the end and sprinted into the air till it disappeared. Leila supposed he had sent for Dumbledore.

Remus ignored her and sat in silence.

"Remus?" she said, worried.

He looked up at her and glared unseeingly. "What were you trying to prove?"

"What?"

"I, or for the matter, none of us need you to step in. Do you realize how precarious your safety is? The Ministry has been heavily infiltrated and Scrimgeour could've done anything, left you with anyone!"

"They _chained_ you up! I was supposed to stand by and let-"

"Yes you were! That's how I'm treated in the wizarding world, Leila! Welcome to my life! I know how to take care of myself!" he shouted at her.

Leila backed away, stunned by his anger.

The door slammed open and Dumbledore strode in, followed by James and Sirius. Leila heard warning bells go off. If Remus was this angry, Sirius and James would be infinitely worse.

"What happened?" asked Dumbelodre worriedly.

"Scrimgeour dropped in with his cronies for a private chat with Leila." said Remus angrily.

"You showed him the way out, I hope?" said Dumbledore narrowing his eyes.

"No. They threatened me and this idiot took the bait and went for a walk with him." said Remus, throwing her a dirty look.

"Leila!" said Sirius, aghast. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to be alone with any of these people?"

"We just talked." said Leila, holding up her hands, thinking that everyone was really over reacting.

"About what?" asked James curtly.

"He wanted me to be seen working for the Ministry. Something of a brand building exercise." said Leila.

The four of them exchanged grim looks. Leila wished someone would tell her what the hell was going on.

"And you said...?" prompted Dumbledore.

"I told him to go to hell."

Albus's lip twitched while Sirius grinned all out. James and Remus still looked grim, however.

"Is that why he stopped long enough to tell me that if we don't watch it, he'd imprison you?" said Remus, looking at her.

Leila winced.

"Imrpison her on what grounds?" demanded James.

"He threatened to put me on trial for Cedric's death." Leila said in a small voice. "He really, really wants to back you into a corner."

The silence was loud in her ears.

James threw himself on a seat and glowered at all of them. Leila physically backed away.

"Sit." he told her coldly. Sirius, sensing a major explosion, exchanged a long look with Remus. James never got angry but the few times he did, it was a volcanic eruption and both of them knew today was one such day. Sirius pulled Leila to him and he held her in his lap, wrapping his arms tight around her, forming a sort of physical shield around her.

"Today," began James in a pseudo pleasant tone that fooled no one, "The bloody Minister for Magic strode into the HQ and made off with my daughter, and threatened her with our safety. No one seemed to give a shit that she's a minor or even a child. They just walk right in, bully her and leave."

Everyone stared at him in wary silence.

"This is a disturbing pattern I've been observing ever since the realities combined. First, Albus, you stick my kid with abusive relatives. Then, the minute she enters the magical world, everyone either helps her get herself into dangerous situations and be their fucking hero or they decide they have undue say in her life. Somehow, none of this responsibility or say in her life has ever seemed to translate into protecting her or even standing up for her. The result of which is tabloid writers can write what they want about my minor daughter and grown men can hurl abuses at her even when she's surrounded by people who could, in theory, hex the living daylights out of them."

The long silence morphed into an aura of shame and Leila was mortified.

"Dad," she said tersely. "I think that's unfair-"

"Leila, quiet." said James coldly. He continued, "Today, I'm laying down some ground rules. I don't care if you think she's the chosen one. I don't care whether she's been your surrogate child. I don't care whether you're her mentor. From now onwards, anything pertinent to her will be bought to the notice of Lily and I. You will not drag her off to field trips in the dead of the night," he glowered at Dumbelodre, "and you will not expect her to fight for you anymore. Have I made myself clear? This stops here."

"Dad!" said Leila, finally fed up. Sirius groaned, his face pressed to her shoulder. Interrupting James in the middle of an angry rant was never a good idea. James trained his gaze on her and said, "Which brings me to you. If I ever catch you jumping out from behind people trying to protect you or ever defying me, Lily, Remus or Sirius when we tell you to back off and let us handle it, consider yourself in a deep trouble. If you have a problem, you come to one of us and no one else. Is that clear?"

"No, it isn't." snapped Leila. "Can you stop dictating who and what I talk to everyone about-"

"We're done here." snapped James.

"I was only trying to protect Remus, you and everybody else!" she shouted.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about. Let's get something clear, Leila. We don't need you to protect any of us."

"I'm with James on this." Remus agreed. "Leila, relax. Nothing is going to happen to us-"

"Really? What was the original Order count and what's the number today?" asked Leila quietly.

"Leila, honey, please don't argue and make it worse." Sirius groaned. He was equally furious but when James was angry, he automatically took a step back, trying to be the one to diffuse the tension.

Leila turned to give him a look but James' voice cut her off. "Not your concern."

"No, it never is." she said coldly. "Till one fine day I have to march off and magically make that evil bastard disappear. Can you stop acting like-"

"I don't think you understand. You don't get a say in this." said James icily.

Leila pulled herself free from Sirius and got up. She turned on her heel and stormed off outside to the grounds.

She shoved her hands into her pockets and stared up at the pitch, her unease and misery compounding. The pitch reminded her of Cedric and inadvertently of Amos Diggory. She had never been his biggest fan but she was utterly broken by his words.

_"Is that what people think about me? Do they really think I'm capable of that?"_

She wished Cedric was here. She missed him terribly and now she had a creeping sense of guilt too, wondering if Amos had been right, if he did deserve better than her.

_"Of course he did. He's dead because of you."_ a bitter voice in her head told her.

She held out her wand and said, "Accio Firebolt."

She flew around for hours, aimlessly, the day's events playing out in her over and over again.

She frowned as she spotted a figure at the stands. A shock of messy dark hair confirmed who it was.

She flew down to the stands and hopped off her broom and looked at him. He was looking at her, still irritable. She sighed and gently nudged his shoulder with hers.

"Don't look at me like that."

"Are you going to apologize?"

Leila felt a flash of anger. "I'm not going to apologize for anything. I didn't do anything that warrants an apology."

James shoved his hands in his pocket and glared at her, looking exactly like Leila had a while ago.

"They threatened to take him away for questioning. They put him in chains. What would you have done?" she asked him.

James slowly deflated and he sighed, running his hands through his hair. "Exactly what you had." he admitted.

"I just-" He paused. "Everyday I wake up and think I can finally handle being a part of your life. But everyday I hear something else. Everyday I watch someone hurt you and I have to stand by and just look at you take it without reacting. It hurts so much."

Leila swallowed and looked away too. "It really isn't all that dramatic. I swear. The average school year is a lot of fun too."

James snorted. Leila sighed. "I'm serious. You've only ever seen me in the midst of all the war drama. You've never seen me around my friends or in a remotely normal scenario. I don't cut the tragic figure you seem to think I do. These are... unusual circumstances."

James looked at her hopefully. "You're not just saying that, are you?"

"Not at all! I have distinct memories of making jokes and such." Leila said with a slight grin.

James smirked. "You have a sense of humour?"

"Ouch. Cut me deep with that one." said Leila dryly. "I need to hire someone to handle my PR."

James's smile grew. "Take up Quidditch professionally. You can be moody because being a sport celebrity lets you get away with unsociable behaviour."

"I'm not moody! I'm just either sarcastic or deeply pondering life. And occasionally a drama queen. It's your bad luck you got an overdose of the last one."

"It is a relief to know that there are other sides to you."

"Speaking of other sides, how is it that no one has ever mentioned to me how frightening you are when you're angry?"

James looked regretful. "I was never the angry one. That's more your mother's thing. But I changed after ... well, after your death. We all did. But it's still not a regular occurrence. You just witnessed my equivalent to your drama queen."

"How about we make a deal then? I'll keep a check on my angst and you don't display that vicious harpy side of yours. Is that cool?"

"Deal, Prongslette." He eyed her broom. "That's a nice looking one. What is it?"

"My pride and joy. It's the Firebolt. Sirius gave it to me for Christmas when he was on the run."

"Firebolt?"

"You didn't have these bad boys in your reality?"

"There wasn't much progress in sporting equipment in the other reality. We were running on our third decade of war. We discovered new warfare and insane dark spells but Quidditch and everything else took a beating. The best we had was a Cleansweep Five."

"Ouch. That is tragic." She held it out to him. "You'll love this. Take it for a spin. It's magic." She grinned cheekily.

James looked bemused. "All brooms have magic, Leila."

Leila grimaced. "That was an ironic spin on a muggle expression. I think I've figured out my problem. No one understand my jokes. I'm sort of funny enough if you get them. Honest."

James shook his head. "Muggle jokes." he muttered in disbelief. He took the broom, mounted it and flew off. Leila laughed as she heard him whoop in joyful delight continuously for fifteen minutes.

"I thought I'd find you two here. It's so predictable " Leila turned around to see Sirius walking up to her, looking cheerful. She eyed him carefully. "I'm sorry for-" she began.

"For Jamie's little outburst?" He grinned at her. "I assume you gave him a earful?"

"I didn't intend to but yeah..." she said, embarrassed.

"He was right though. We've been doing a crap job of everything."

Leila slipped her arm around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder. "No. You're all great."

"Even me?"

"Especially you." She looked up at him and held his gaze adoringly. He smiled gently and bent down, touching his nose to hers and brushing it against it lightly. "I love that you love me enough to lie so convincingly."

Leila rolled her eyes and said, "What do you want? A trophy?"

"An engraved one stating I'm the best godfather ever."

"Don't hold your breath." Leila told him, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Real mature, Potter." he said with a grin, pulling her back into a one armed hug.

They both looked at James, still screaming in joy, oblivious to his audience.

"Oh dear." sighed Sirius. "You've created a monster He's never going to get off the damn thing. You can have the happy joy of telling to quit messing about and get back in to pack."

"Ha. No way. You can tell him yourself... Hang on. Pack?"

Sirius's mood seemed to plummet. "We're evacuating HQ. Hogwarts is technically public property and the Ministry will eventually break down our wards and get in. It isn't safe anymore."

"We're.. leaving Hogwarts?" Leila asked, stunned. She felt a sense of loss overwhelm her. Hogwarts was her first and greatest home and she knew, without being told, that it would be unlikely she could ever return.

"'Fraid so." muttered Sirius, looking equally glum.

"Where are we going?"

Sirius seemed to shrivel further into himself at her question. "It's a safe place and one no one will be able to access. You, me, Remus, James and Lily will be moving in there for the time being. More people will join us in due time."

Leila looked at him intently. "You're avoiding my question. Where are we going?"

Sirius just smiled in a twisted, sardonic manner that made Leila worry. "You'll see."

James finally did get down and he silently followed Sirius and Leila back to the castle, watching them. Both of them were trying to step on each other's toes playfully, shoving each other and laughing. James felt his brief good mood vanish. Leila was never that free or comfortable around him.

He watched sourly as Remus joined them too and Leila bounded up to him as well and wrung his hand. His two friends had an understanding, a bond with Leila that was theirs alone. James felt alone.

He slunk off on reaching the common room. Leila stared after him.

"What's gotten into him?"

Sirius looked equally blank but Remus understood.

"Sirius, I need help packing away all the Order notes downstairs. Come with me." Sirius looked like he was about to protest. But he caught the pointed look Remus gave him and said, "Oh. Right." He reluctantly left. Remus looked at Leila and said casually, "Why don't you see if James wants help? Unlike you, Lily and him don't travel light."

Leila slowly made her way up to her parents' room, feeling a bit uncertain. She had become comfortable with Lily but she never spent time alone with James. She hesitantly knocked on the door.

"Come in." said James, sounding grumpy. He looked surprised to see her and looked behind her, expecting Remus and Sirius to be there as well.

"Hello?" he said uncertainly when he ascertained that she was alone.

"Hi. Need help packing?" she asked , shuffling her feet, looking about.

"Erm... Yeah, but Lily could get it done in under a minute so not really going to bother." he said shrugging.

"Right."

The silence was awkward. Leila cast about for something to say.

"So, Quidditch?" began James, lamely. He had no idea what light, easy conversation with his daughter would be like. Their life together had started off on a heavy note, with war and loss. Sport looked like the only thing he could talk about without touching anything loaded.

"Yeah." responded Leila blandly. "You were a Chaser, right?"

"Yep. And you're a Seeker. The youngest in a century, I was told."

"Yeah. Bit of a fluke, that."

James sighed, his shoulders dropping. "Okay look, you don't have to try so hard. It's fine. Go find Remus and Sirius. I know you're comfortable with them and you don't need another dad. I'll see you later."

Leila's eyes widened at his words. "What? No! I-I do need my dad!" He looked up at her hopefully. "I mean come on... Sirius, Remus and I bonded by talking about _you_ non stop!"

Upset that he thought she didn't need him, she went up to him and sat next to him. She said, "The best part about the day I was asked to be Seeker was McGonagall telling me that my dad was a brilliant player too and that he'd have been proud."

James's heart warmed up at her words and he smiled. "I am. Immensely." He sighed and wrapped his arms around her.

"I've missed so much. All the firsts have been taken. You're so independent you don't come looking for help or ask for anything. I don't know what to do and I want to be your old man but you seem to be claimed by far too many people and its so unfair because you're _my_ little girl..."

Leila suddenly grinned as a thought struck her. She looked up at him and said brightly.

"You, Sirius, Remus and Peter know the castle the best right? You've been to every one of Hogwarts' hidey holes."

"Yes we have. We know the castle the best." he said with a grin, his chest inflating with pride.

"Well," drawled Leila, "I know one place where you've never been."

"Impossible." snorted James, looking at her pityingly. "You have seen the Marauder's map, haven't you?"

Leila grinned and jumped up. She held tugged his hand and pulled him up as well and dragged him out, all the way to the third floor corridor. She strode into moaning Myrtle's bathroom and said, 'Ta da!"

James rolled his eyes at her. "Leila, sweetie, I hate to break your illusion that I've never been to a girls' bathroom, although I'd appreciate it if you never told your mother that-"

Leila walked up to the circular basin, bent down and hissed in parseltongue. "Open."

James froze at that. He stared at her in shock. The entire basin opened up and the gnawing, dark passage revealed itself.

"Welcome, to the Chamber of Secrets." she told him with a grin. "You were saying?"

James looked like he was having trouble talking. After a few futile attempts he finally said, "It isn't supposed to exist. It's a place only in legends. I mean, I know you found it, I heard about that... and-" His adam's apple bobbled. "-it's really creepy when you talk in parseltongue."

Leila laughed. "Very few people have been here after Salazar Slytherin himself." She smiled shyly at him. "I can take you down and we can check it out. There's a big, gross Basilisk body decomposing in there too. It'll be _our_ thing." She grinned at him. "Then you can officially claim only you know the castle the best. I've never taken Sirius and Remus down there."

James was grinning so broadly that his face hurt. He grabbed her hand and said, "Best father-daughter activity, ever!" And they both jumped down.

The next day, Leila found herself, in a dead-end lane after a hurried journey through central London, down to the south of the Thames till they reached Bermondsey. Sirius handed her a scrap of paper that had a single line scrawled on it.

_The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at 12 Grimmauld Place, London. _

"Oookay." said Leila slowly, not really comprehending. She looked blankly at the houses in front of her and realized that house numbers 11 and 13 were in front of her but there was no number 12. She looked at the paper with a frown, then looked up again. Her jaws dropped. Number 11 and 13 were being shoved aside as Number 12 burgeoned in front of them. The house that appeared looked ominous, with an imposing mahogany door that sported a heavy, wrought silver door knocker shaped like a serpent. Sirius inserted a thick silver key into the keyhole and twisted it. The door creaked open. He half turned and gave Leila a tight smile.

"Welcome, to the Black ancestral home."

Leila finally made sense of his bad mood and James and Remus's sympathetic glances directed at him.

They all went in and the heavy door creaked shut behind them, the locks clicking definitively. Leila fidgeted. It was pitch dark and the air in the house was heavy and laden with an oppressive feeling. In front of her, Sirius stepped forward and the dusty lights flickered to light, casting a dulled sulphurous glow.

The ceiling was caked with cobwebs and the walls were adorned with thick framed portraits that had darkened with age. Its inhabitants stared down at them in distrust and disdain.

"You weren't exaggerating, were you? I'm surprised you didn't run away sooner." whispered James, looking around him in disgust. Remus and Lily murmured their agreement.

Leila looked at James and Remus in surprise. "You've never been here?"

Sirius snorted. "Are you mad? My parents would never let me get home a blood traitor and a werewolf and besmirch the great house of Blacks!" he whispered, disgust lining his words.

Leila wondered why they were all whispering. She found out a moment later when Sirius accidentally stumbled on a scrunched up bit of carpet and grabbed the nearby table for support, knocking over a heavy, brass candlestick. The cluttering noise carried all the way down the empty corridor and immediately, two portraits down, the veil across a large one flew open.

Leila had never actually seen a banshee but she was sure this had to be one. The woman in the portrait was a terrible sight to behold, her face grey and twisted in fury. She screamed incessantly, her words and pitch making Leila want to clamp her hands over her ears.

"Filthy scum, defiling the house of Black! How dare you-"

It seemed to go on for hours till the woman spotted Sirius who made his way to the portrait and tried to yank the veil shut.

"You! Blood traitor! Abomination! I should've strangled you when you tore your way into the world, you miserable, filthy-"

James rushed forward and together Sirius and him yanked the veil shut and the woman's screams died out. Sirius glared heavily at the closed off portrait.

"Nice to see you too, Mum."

Leila thought she heard wrong.

"That was your...? Wow." Sirius didn't respond. He just made his way to another closed door and forcefully threw it open.

They all trooped into a larger room that looked slightly less ominous. It showed signs of being partially cleaned. Remus pointed his wand at the cold grate and a fire erupted, warming all of them. Leila couldn't take her eyes off Sirius, her mind struggling to connect the terrifying woman and the man in front of her, unable to see any similarities. Sirius seemed to be studiously avoiding all their gazes, clearly tense after his mother's portrait's outburst. Leila's eyes softened. She knew how he felt. She understood his dread. She felt it too, everytime she thought of any of her friends from the wizarding world ever encountering the Dursleys. She reached out and slipped her hand into his and gently squeezed. He reluctantly looked at her and she smiled sadly, trying to convey silently that she understood. He seemed to get her message because he smiled back just as sadly and squeezed her hand in return, looking grateful.

James clapped his hand on Sirius's shoulder and said cheerfully, "I'm so glad we picked my house to bum around during the holidays. Although my mum could've given your mum a run for her money. Do you remember the time we chased the garden gnomes over her herb garden?"

"Don't remind me." muttered Sirius.

"What is it with Black women and their overall scary demeanour?" mused Remus.

Leila raised her eyebrows. "Grandma was a Black?"

"She was distantly related to Sirius. She was from a less crazy branch of the family. But she could be pretty damned mainstream Black when she was in a bad mood." James said, with a grin.

Lily whispered conspiratorially to Leila. "You have the genes, baby. Good luck."

"Thanks mum. Now I'm going to spend the rest of my life having nightmares about how my postmortem, portrait personality is going to be the star of children's nightmares." whispered back Leila, stoically.

Sirius overheard them and smiled deviously at Leila. "We can have a joint portrait and scare kids together."

Leila smiled at the thought of Sirius and her immortalized together in a portrait, stuck in some musty old house, plotting scare tactics.

"You're on, oh noble scion of the Black family."


	24. Chapter 24

It had been a month since they had moved into Grimmauld place. Summer was far gone and London shivered under the sweeping cold wind, orange leaves spilling from the trees. Leila personally found Autumn rather enjoyable but stuck inside the gloomy house, where only the brightest summer rays could penetrate the darkness, it worked on her mood. She managed to find a single outdoor space at the back of the house. There was a single yew tree and dying shrubbery scattered on a yellowing patch of wild grass. It was walled in by the houses on either side, making it look bleak. Determined to make a place for herself, she summoned whatever gardening skills she had acquired over the years doing her Aunt's work, she started clearing it up and de-weeding. Lily had looked at her pityingly at the end of the second week as she came back in for dinner, looking exhausted and cold and not like someone who had had any success.

"I need some outdoor space." Leila said firmly. "I don't care how difficult it is, I'll make it pretty."

"I know, honey. It's just that gardens in magical properties are less easy to tame. And I'm willing to bet there might be herbs or poisons in there that could affect you if you scratch yourself accidentally. Why don't you hold on till one of us help?"

"You're busy with the rest of the house and Order stuff." said Leila. "Let me do this. I found some not-evil looking books in the library that might help. Besides, it's gardening. It can't be worse than the time Aunt Petunia decided she had to create her own hybrid roses in the backyard. That was such a fail."

Lily snickered. "I'll bet. I hope she broke her back trying."

"More like she broke my back. I was the one who did the actual work." Leila said making a face. "Still, I did learn tonnes. I never learned how to grow my own variety of roses though, but I did learn other stuff. So it wasn't a completely fruitless endeavour."

"How very glass half full." said Lily, shaking her head.

"I thought you'd be pleased at all my enthusiasm for education."

"I suppose so. By the way, Professor McGonagall showed me your old report cards." She gave Leila a reproachful look.

"What?" said Leila defensively. "I got top grades for DADA and Charms in the only two years I wrote exams. And my Quidditch captain was insane. We had practice at 5 am every other day!"

"So did your father. He still topped class. I topped class too. So did Sirius and Remus. We were all getting high marks! You're average at Transfiguration and you're practically failing Potions and Divination!"

"Well, you did say I managed to inexplicably inherit something from all the Marauders. Now we know what I got from Wormtail." Leila said with a smirk.

"Not funny, Leila!"

"Oh come on! Education isn't everything."

"You shouldn't flake off though. It'll come back to bite you if your OWL and NEWT scores aren't good enough to get you into a career you want."

"And speaking of which," added James, coming into the room, having overheard the last bit of their conversation. "You picked Divination?"

"I didn't pick it. Ron did and I picked whatever he picked so that I have someone to mess about with in class." said Leila carelessly.

"Merlin..." said James rolling his eyes. "Having fun with it?"

"More like I want to kill myself every class. That was definitely a mistake, I'll give you that."

"You should've picked Runes and Arithmancy. You were good at maths in your muggle school and you love mythology and languages. You'd have loved both subjects." Lily told her.

"I guess. I didn't know. Ron said they sounded difficult and I was happy to stay clear of anything that actually involved work. I'm not faring very well in magical education, as you've clearly noticed and I didn't want to try my luck and end up failing. I was already on the fence thanks to Potions."

"Potions is an incredible subject." Lily said almost dreamily.

"Not the way Snape teaches it." muttered Leila. Lily looked away and James's mouth hardened at the mention of Snape, something that didn't escape Leila. She had to restart her Occlumency lessons but she hadn't because it would involve coming clean about it and she hadn't forgotten James's last temper tantrum. This one would rile Sirius up as well and she had already managed to piss him off and wasn't keen on making it worse.

The first night, they'd all crashed on the large sofas and armchairs in the warm living room, not remotely keen on navigating their way through the scary corridors upstairs to pick their rooms.

The second day, they'd decided that the best way to start cleaning would actually claim a room and then start cleaning it and slowly work their way into the corridor.

Leila wandered the fourth floor corridor, ambling after Sirius as he grumbled about how this made him feel like he was ten years old again as he headed to his parents' old room. Leila stopped in front of Sirius's old room and looked in, curious. She started laughing. Under the thick dust was a red-maroon theme and the Gryffindor lion stood in dull gold, on the wall behind the bed. The wall across had posters of an old army Enfield and a sturdy Harley Davidson. Flanking both the motorbike pictures were muggle pin-up muddles, one nude and the other in a barely-there bikini.

"I used a permanent sticking charm on them. You should've seen my parents' face when they realized they couldn't get it off the wall and their precious house was doomed to have those stuck on forever." Sirius said gleefully.

Leila laughed along with him. "I love your room. It's so starkly different from the rest of the house."

Sirius waved his wand and murmured "Scourgify." The dust vanished and the surfaces looked polished.

"That was quick."

"Don't be fooled. The rest of the house won't be that easy. The bedrooms are relatively free of crap so easy enough."

Leila stepped out again and looked at the room across from her. It was Regulus's room. She curiously turned the knob but found that it was locked.

"Alohomora." she murmured and it clicked open.

She stepped inside and was struck by the room's contrast to Sirius's. It was adorned with dark green, the Slytherin serpent represented in silver behind the bed. The room had an old bookcase filled with thick, leather bindings. The walls were bare. A large oak desk was across from the bed and was neatly and devoid of parchment bits, unlike Sirius's desk. She picked up the photo frame on it and studied the picture. She spotted Regulus immediately. He was a solemn looking boy, good looking like his brother with whom he shared facial similarities, but smaller built and had none of the mischievous light that was in Sirius's face. Something about him tugged at her heart.

She remembered Sirius telling her that he'd turned into a Death Eater. Looking at the photograph, she couldn't help wonder why.

_"What do you mean why? Look at this house."_

She reached for the old paper clippings arranged neatly on the side of the desk. They formed a documentation of Voldemort's rise to power. Leila sat on the chair and read through them, fascinated. Each article was a small piece of a larger puzzle. Odd killings, Voldemort's speeches to the Ministry in his initial days. Some of the earlier articles didn't even mention Voldemort but it was clear to Leila that it was his handiwork.

She mulled over them. The meticulous nature of Regulus's collection of data on Voldemort troubled her. This looked like academic interest, not frenzied belief in an ideology. She pondered the real reason he joined the Death Eaters. Was it as simple as the fact the Black family were pureblood fanatics and he shared their view? Something didn't sit right with her.

"Anything interesting?"

Leila looked up and found Sirius leaning against the door frame, looking at her intently. She shook her head and put the clippings away, not wanting to talk to Sirius about her thoughts on Regulus. She knew how he felt about his brother.

"So, cleaned out your closet and moved in?" Leila asked him.

Sirius frowned. "I'm not staying in my old room. I'll be using my parents' old room."

"Why?"

"I'm the master of the house now. That room is magically tied to the rest of the house in a command centre-ish way. I might as well take charge and help bring it to heel. Not that it won't fight back..."

Leila gave him a sympathetic look. "Oh well.. I'm sure Dad'll claim your room then, Gryffindor colours and all. The Slytherin-ness of the house must be killing him and I'm sure he'll weep in delight at the sight of red."

"You don't mind it?"

"Surprisingly, no. I'm almost Slytherin, remember?" She looked around and smiled lightly. "Regulus's room reminds me of a pleasant version of the Slytherin common room."

"How would you know what it looks like?"

"Polyjuice Potion, second year. Ron and I pretended to be Crabbe and Goyle to get Malfoy to confess that he was the heir of Slytherin. That was eventful."

Sirius laughed. "Well, you better claim my room before James comes up."

Leila looked at him in surprise. "Oh, no. That's okay. Mum and him can have that, though I'm sure she'll love your pin up girls." She smirked at the thought.

Sirius pursed his lips, inexplicably irritated. He wanted Leila in his old room. He could picture her there, wrapped in the red quilt, asleep in the room that was filled with his things, smelling like him, in a closet still holding the remnants of his clothing. He desperately wanted her there in the room that was his, possibly wearing an old shirt of his as she sat on his desk and read something, twirling her hair and smiling up at him as he came in.

"You're not going to fight James for it?" he asked, trying not to sound pushy.

"No." Leila looked about her. "I've found the room I want."

Sirius straightened up and looked at her in disbelief. "You mean.. here? Regulus's room?"

"Yeah..." said Leila softly, her eyes going back to the picture of the Quidditch team. She picked it up again and ran her thumb gently over his face. "He was a Seeker." she said softly, thinking out loud.

"So? You can feel the bonds of mutual Quidditch love in the room?" said Sirius, beyond irritated. His day dream of Leila in his room tasted even more bitter in his mouth now, picturing exactly the same scenes but now in Regulus's room.

No one outside of the Black family and their Slytherin cronies ever picked Regulus over him. But in his mind, it felt like Leila was doing just that.

Leila looked at him in confusion, picking up on his anger. "No.. I.. I just like the room. Something about it..." she trailed off, looking thoughtful.

Sirius was gone by the time she refocused. She couldn't help worry that something was wrong.

_"He can't be mad at me just because I picked Regulus's room to sleep in, can he? That's ridiculous... isn't it?"_

Sirius spent the next few days being cold and Leila started avoiding him, choosing to clear up the ground floor. She promised herself that she would do her best to not get on his nerves but it proved to be harder than she thought.

The foruth night brought howling winds and the house shivered along with them. Leila was emptying her trunk into the closet, carefully moving Regulus's clothes aside. She didn't feel like taking it out and throwing it away. She used the spare space instead, neatly stacking Regulus's robes and the shirts and trousers to one side, careful not to crumple anything.

She looked around the room, pleased. She had made practically no changes, unlike everybody else. Sirius, Remus, James and Lily had gone out of their way to modify the rooms to their liking, determined to clear out any trace of the Black house in their living space. Leila had, much to all their confusion, been firm on retaining Regulus's room exactly as is. She went through his books and papers, cleared them of dust and grime and re-stacked them on the wooden shelves. She cleared a small space to keep her books on it (she had accumulated quite a few over the course of her training with Moody and even Snape started giving her a few, although his were on wizarding literature. He had insisted that she read them, telling her that her love for muggle literature and history was something that surprised him as he hadn't expected her to show any interest in anything literary and that she ought to read the magical equivalent as well.)

She put away his paper clippings and ancient rune notes into the desk drawer and filed his personal correspondence without reading them and locked them away as well. She kept the picture of his Quidditch team on the desk, unable to put it away. She added her photographs as well, to make it feel like her room as well.

_"There you go, Regulus."_ she thought. _"I haven't taken over. I'm just sharing your space. Although if you were actually alive, I suspect you wouldn't even want me in your house."_

She crawled into the freshly laundered covers that still seemed to have traces of his scent. It was a woody, musky scent. Leila found it strangely comforting. She wondered why the only place in the house she felt at home and welcomed was a that of a now-dead Death Eater.

She turned out the lights and closed her eyes, listening to the howling wind.

She had no idea how long had passed. The winds were still relentless and the house was quiet. But Leila knew she was being watched. Her hands itched to reach for her wand on her bedside. She slowly opened her eyes, ready to grab her wand if required.

Her eyes met large lumionous ones. She jumped up and turned on the lights and blinked at the creature in front of her. It was a house elf or atleast it used to be one. It was small, wearing a filthy loin cloth, with large, watery eyes that were looking at her in disgust.

"Hello?" said Leila, tentatively.

"She speaks to Kreacher." it whispered. "The filthy witch that Master Sirius brought with him speaks to Kreacher..."

Leila immediately assessed the situation. She was close to Dobby and knew what made him tick but after spending so much time at the kitchens at Hogwarts, she realized that his behaviour was rather eccentric by average elf standards and particularly after Winky, she now knew what not to say to a house elf.

"What's your name?" she asked authoritatively. She hated talking to anyone like that but she knew it would be the best way to deal with an elf till they got used to someone.

"Kreacher doesn't have to answer, no he doesn't. Dirty trespassers have no authority in the house..."

"I'm not trespassing. I'm here on Sirius Black's invitation."

"Master Sirius is a blood traitor, an abomination... But Kreacher must serve him for he is the last Black. How Mistress would weep..."

Leila looked at him thoughtfully. She decided to change track.

"I'm sorry to hear that." she softly, kindly. "We don't mean to be an inconvenience or defile the house. I do hope you and your mistress will forgive us."

The house elf stared at her, in shock. Whatever he expected, it wasn't that. Leila decided to take advantage of his shock.

"I'm Leila. Will you tell me your name, please?"

The elf's eyes widened and immediately jumped to her forehead. Leila knew from experience that being Leila Potter generally worked in her favour when it came to house elves. She brushed her hair out of her face and let him see the scar.

"Kreacher sees it." it whispered. "But Kreacher wonders how Leila Potter defeated the Dark Lord."

Leila shrugged innocently. She was pleased with herself for thawing him. But her glee vanished in a second when he suddenly backed away and glowered at her.

"Filthy halfblood in Master Regulus's room! Oh poor Master Regulus... Kreacher wants to kill the halfblood for defiling his room but Kreacher can't."

Leila sighed. _"Oh well... was worth a shot."_

Kreacher continued to glare balefully at her. "Kreacher would strangle and drown Leila Potter if he could, yes he would. But Kreacher can't because-"

"Because I expressly forbid you to lay a finger on anyone in the house." came a curt voice from the door. Sirius was standing there, wearing just his night pants, his arms crossed over his bare chest. "Here's another order for you - keep out of everybody's rooms as well as the room the Order is using as its headquarters. And apologise to Leila right now."

Kreacher's face spasmed as he struggled to defy Sirius's order but he finally turned to Leila and keeping his eyes down he muttered bitterly, "Kreacher apologies to the blood traitor's spawn-"

"Get out of my sight!" snarled Sirius. Kreacher shuffled out, giving him a look of deepest loathing. Leila held her breath as he passed by Sirius on his way out, sure that Sirius would physically harm him. He looked viciously angry enough to do it. But Kreacher exited the room without any incidence of violence.

Leila released the breath she had been holding. "Right then. I'm never complaining about the Durselys again."

Sirius uncrossed his arms and came to her bed and threw himself on it and shut his eyes, his face still stiff with anger. Leila lightly poked him on his stomach, trying not to think about how hard and muscular it felt. He ignored her.

"Are you still mad at me? Do you realize I don't even get _why_ you're angry?"

He continued to ignore her. Leila sighed and fell back on the bed. She pulled the covers over herself and after hesitating for a brief second, she pulled them over him as well. She pointed her wand at the door and shut it, locking it, keen to keep Kreacher out lest he found a loophole in Sirius's command. She turned out the lights and snuggled under the covers, stopping to kiss the un-moving man next to her on his forehead.

"I know coming back here is hard for you and the last thing I want to do is get on your nerves." she whispered in his ear. "So whatever it is you're angry about, just know that I'm not doing it on purpose. I love you, Snuffles."

She closed her eyes, hoping Sirius would cheer up by daybreak.

"I hate this room. I hate Regulus." She heard him mutter in the dark, sounding petulant.

Leila decided she better not reply because anything she said at this point would set him off. She didn't realize her silence was making him angry too.

She drifted off to sleep as Sirius festered next to her.

When she woke up the next day, he was gone and he stayed away from her, seeming to get angrier every time he looked at her. Leila tried everything to appease him, going as far as to get up early everyday to make breakfast for everybody and putting extra effort with Sirius's. But he just ignored her, ate without comment and strode off to 'clean' the house.

Remus gave her a sympathetic look. Normally, a fight between Sirius and Leila involved both of them being angry or just Leila furious. This time, it looked the tables were turned.

"I don't even know why he's so moody with me." she grumbled.

"You picked Regulus's room." said James, looking up from a map briefly and giving her a look that said 'you idiot'.

"So?"

"He hated his brother."

"I hate Dudley. But I'm not going to go mental if one of you choose to stay in his room instead of mine!"

James shrugged. Truth be told, even he thought Sirius was over reacting. But he didn't dare to say it out loud for the fear of being overheard by his best friend. Like everyone else, he was treading on egg shells around Sirius, doing his best not to push his buttons.

Leila's mood was no better. The Order kept coming in and out but now they were too busy, their work being made that much harder by the Ministry's crackdown on them. It didn't help that half the Order worked in the Ministry as well and were being tailed. Communication channels were sealed off and she hadn't heard from any of her friends. Her parents and Remus were too preoccupied making the house livable when they weren't tied up with Order work. Mad Eye was too busy at the moment with tracking Karakoff in Northern Russia and her defense classes were suspended, as were her Occlumency lessons. Dumbledore had cornered her and asked her to resume it and that Snape was willing to take over her defense lessons as well but Leila had asked for more time before she told everyone that she had picked Snape as her mentor. Dumbleodre had given her a 'I told you so' look.

So she took on the garden project. It helped her stay clear of her angry godfather and Kreacher, who had taken to following her everywhere and watching her. He didn't seem to like getting out of the house, something that Leila was grateful for. She didn't think her de-weeding and identifying the various plants would be made easier if he were there, voicing out his homicidal fantasies.

By the first of October, Leila finally managed to clear the shrubbery, keeping only the plants with medicinal value. The yew tree was a lovely mixture of yellow and orange and Leila smiled up at it, wondering if she could manage a cherry tree before spring. She had discovered a few handy spells to control the weather in limited spaces and was toying with the idea of creating a quasi-greenhouse like atmosphere. But they were very difficult to cast and Leila struggled to master them as the icy winds blew over her already dying garden.

As the days crawled on, the days grew shorter and colder, making everything gloomier. Voldemort's rise seemed more marked. The air was foggy and oppressive and the attacks began again. They were sporadic in nature, targeting specific families. James and Lily ferociously shielded Leila from any news but with the help of the twins' extendedable ears, Leila heard a lot more than they realized. She started losing sleep and the nightmares started up all over again. Leila knew that she was running out of time and that she needed to start her lessons with Snape again.

Leila was now trapped in the house full time. The Order members started staying away longer, often gone for days at end. There were often week long stretches when Leila saw no one and the only company she had was Kreacher. Even if someone did come in, it was to grab a quick bite or crash overnight in fatigue. Leila had glimpsed Remus, Sirius and her parents thrice in two weeks. Leila was sure she was going to go mad. No one even had the time to speak to her anymore and all her training was suspended. Her role as the housekeeper was reinforced when often the only conversation she had anybody was where the extra sheets were or what they wanted her to cook or which room was livable in for the night.

As much as it grated on her nerves, Leila stayed silent and continued being the butler/cook/sole soldier in her battle against the house. It felt like it was the only useful thing she did and she did have to admit that her knowledge of dark magic and creatures had exponentially increased as she valiantly attempted to tame the house. She ended up training on her own and it kept her from going insane.

One night, Leila sat in her room, thumbing through Regulus's book on Nordic legends and their relevance to the magical community of the region in the nineteenth century. It made for a really good read and Leila supposed Snape at the least would be pleased. She finished quarter the book and sleep still evaded her. She put it aside and restlessly got up and paced, contemplating cleaning out the third floor. Hermione and the younger Weasleys were likely to move in sometime and Leila curbed her expectant longing by busying herself by making the rooms in the floor below ready for habitation. It had been months since she had seen or heard from them and she missed them terribly, her heart aching constantly at the thought of them.

_"And it's not like my parents or Sirius or Remus are around anyway."_ thought Leila sourly. She found it rather galling that she was not allowed to stay at the Burrow because everyone wanted her to be with her parents while said parents were absent ninety nine percent of the time.

Her only respite from the loneliness came from Bill Weasley who made it a point to spend time with her in the mornings, helping her cook breakfast, carrying little notes and trinkets from the rest of the Weasleys and reaching out to her as an equal and a friend rather than a delinquent child, housekeeper or the Chosen One.

Deciding she might as well make herself useful, she got out of bed and went down the second floor. She went into the third room from the stairs, one that she had previously never been to. It was a large one and glancing around, she figured that it would be a good one for the Weasley twins and Ron. It could easily accommodate three beds and had plenty of spare space for the twins to tinker around and do their experiments.

She murmured a levitating spell, causing all the furniture to rise, giving her a clear view of the mess on the floor. To her astonishment, she found Kreacher cowering in the corner.

"Hello." said Leila chirpily. She had learnt that Kreacher, despite his apparent dislike, seemed to have formed some sort of attachment to her. She guessed it had something to do with her being persistently nice to him, refusing to rise to his 'mudblood', 'werewolf' and 'blood traitor' baits unlike Sirius and James who flew off the handle regularly while Remus and Lily just ignored him. Leila understood house elves well enough to know that their views were formed entirely by the families they served. She saw Dobby still struggle to throw off the mental shackles of the Malfoy household and found it easier to overlook Kreacher's insanity. She preferred to treat him with the patience she would employ with a senile old man.

Kreacher, for his part, seemed to be able to over look the fact that she was half blood because she was Leila Potter and that she occasionally protected him from Sirius's wrath.

"Kreacher was cleaning." he grumbled.

Leila wanted to laugh. _"Sure you were."_

"I intend to do the same." Leila told him. "How are you? I haven't seen you all day?"

"Unsavory people walking in and out and befouling the noble air of the house." he said angrily.

"They only ever go to the HQ room or the kitchen, Keacher." said Leila, reasonably. "Nobody goes to the rest of the house. It's still untouched."

"In a manner of speaking. My fool of a great grandson and his lousy friends are still there." said a snide voice. Leila jumped and looked about, trying to identify the source. Kreacher stared at the wall behind her with a servile look. Leila looked warily at what he was staring at. It was a darkened portrait with a regal looking man, who had the air of someone with a superiority complex. Something about him was very familar.

"I've seen you before..." said Leila, frowning as she tried to place his face.

The man gave her a condescending look. "I'm Phineas Nigellus, former headmaster of Hogwarts and great grandfather to that lout Sirius Black."

"That's where I've seen you before! Your portrait is in Dumbledore's office!"

"Yes. And I've been unfortunate enough to have seen you before as well. It is rather disconcerting to see you in my house. It was bad enough having you sashay into the Headmaster's office at the drop of a hat."

"Hang on.. you can move between both portraits?"

"Great men are afforded the privilege of having two portrait locations."

"Good for you. Keeps you from getting bored, doesn't it?"

"That's one way of looking at it. I suppose you're here to dislodge things in this room as well in your apparent attempt to clean the house?"

"Yes, I am."

"I command you to leave the room. I have no intention of sharing my room with more of your treacherous friends."

Leila rolled her eyes. "I'm sure they would rather not share living space with you as well. But you're all going to have to deal with it. And if you don't like it, take up permanent residence in Dumbledore's office."

"How dare you tell me what to do in my own house?"

"You do realize you're dead, don't you?"

Phineas Nigellus looked greatly miffed at that. "You do realize you're not a Black, don't you?"

"Absolutely. Thank Morgana for that."

Phineas glared at her. "It would be a great honour for your lowly self to even be remotely offered the possibility of ingratiating yourself into this ancient family, you pathetic girl."

"As shocking as it may seem to you, some of us don't give a damn about things like that."

"And foolish notions like that is why the wizarding world is deteriorating." he said in a huff.

Leila had other theories about why the world was deteriorating but she didn't see the point in educating Phineas Nigellus. She shook her head and turned her attention back to the room. It was then she noticed that Kreacher was trying to drag a box of assorted objects away, as inconspicuously as he could. Leila frowned at him, recognizing half the the things in the box, having personally branded most of them as too dangerous to leave lying around.

"Kreacher, "she said, "Didn't I leave that in the attic?"

"The no good halfblood has no business telling Kreacher what to do. She has no right to touch anything in the house!" hissed Kreacher furiously.

"Your Master is bound to disagree. We could go and take this up with him right now but I think you and I both know what Sirius is going to say. So why don't you just leave that behind and go to bed?" Leila had gotten good at recognizing how to make Kreacher do as she told, having been stuck with him alone for days on end when the Order members disappeared. But he did rebel occasionally and Leila hoped he wouldn't tonight. Sirius had come in, his mood darker than usual and she'd already been barked at during dinner. She didn't like to think what he'd do to Kreacher in his current state of mind.

Thankfully, Kreacher swallowed her warning. He glared balefully at her and shuffled off. Phineas Nigellus raged on behind her about how it was preposterous that she could pillage his house like an invading army. Deciding to concede defeat for the night, she picked up the box Kreacher left behind and headed out to drop it off in the attic and ponder a combination of locking spells that she could use to prevent Kreacher from going in again.

She paused at the stairs, not really wanting to go up in the dark. The house was spookier at night and she didn't want to go up there now. She went down instead, hoping a mug of hot chocolate would get her some sleep. To her surprise, she found James and Lily there by themselves.

"Hey." she said in surprise. "I wasn't expecting anyone to come in after Sirius tonight. Are you hungry? Give me a few minutes, I'll get something heated up."

She shuffled off to the stove. Lily got up to help.

"No, no, sit down. You look exhausted." Leila said, firmly.

Lily gave her a weak smile and nodded, sitting back down.

"Leila? We're sorry." said James, looking glum.

"About what?"

"About everything. About disappearing all the time, about leaving you alone here, about letting you take over the housekeeping and cooking duties by yourself..."

"It's fine. I don't mind. It makes me feel better, like I'm doing something useful." said Leila with a shrug, not wanting them to see how fed up she was because she knew it wouldn't make them feel any better. It wasn't their fault it had come down to this.

"Mad Eye has been busy too..." said Lily softly.

Leila turned and smiled. "Oh don't worry about the training. I'm having plenty of practice in this house. And I've learned more about magic and magical creatures the last two months than I have in four years of school."

"You should be out in sunshine, in light, in school, not worrying about all this." said Lily slumping down, looking miserable. Leila frowned. Something was up with the two of them. She shoved the chicken in the oven and switched it on, then walked up to the table and sat across from them and looked at them intently.

"Alright. What's bothering you? Where is this suddenly coming from?"

"It's just... It's been a rough week." muttered James.

Leila didn't say anything. She knew, having overheard, that the Death Eaters had slaughtered an entire family in Belfast. Two children survived and were found in crying by their parents' dead bodies. Neither child was over three years. Just as it had haunted Lily and James, it had affected Leila too.

Leila longed to ask them where the children were and if they had found homes for them but she couldn't do so without admitting that she had been sneakily overhearing their meetings.

"And.. it's Halloween tomorrow. It's just that... Merlin, we have you back and it could be the first time in years we don't mourn and yet, here we are, stuck in this miserable house, all of us in our own existential planes." said Lily, unhappily.

Leila looked confused. "Halloween? Mourning? What?"

They stared at her. "Voldemort came to Godric's Hollow on Halloween night." Lily said quietly.

"Oh." Leila had never associated Halloween with the terrible night that her parents were taken from her. Clearly, it was not the case with Lily and James.

"I see." she said slowly. "I don't mourn Halloween. I had no idea how and when you died till Hagrid told me on the night I got my letter of acceptance for Hogwarts. And every Halloween in school has been eventful at best." Leila grinned as she thought back to every Halloween feast. "Blimey, tomorrow might be the first quiet Halloween I've had in years!"

She smiled at Lily and James. "I could regale you with tales if you'd like, if it means you stop looking so glum."

"Halloween feats were always fun." agreed Lily, brightening up.

Leila barked out a laugh. "Sure. Well, let's see. In the first year, trolls got into the castle. Ron and I became friends with Hermione that night because we accidentally locked her in with one and then had to rescue her. Don't ask. Then in second year, Nearly Headless Nick invited me to his 500th Death Day party and then we stumbled over Mrs Norris's petrified body when we escaped to get decent food and everyone came to the conclusion that I was the heir of Slytherin."

"As if." scoffed James.

"Oh, I don't know. I am parseltongue and the Hat did want to put me in Sltherin. The only reason I'm in Gryffindor is because I begged it not to. But that's another story."

"The Hat did what?" asked James, looking at his daughter in horror.

"What about third year?" cut in Lily hastily.

"Sirius was on the run. He tried getting into the Common room to get at Pettigrew but when the Fat Lady didn't let him, he slashed her portrait. The entire school slept in the Great Hall in sleeping bags because a crazy murderer was apparently inside the castle and no one knew where. So Sirius can take credit for the slumber party we all that night."

Lily and James snorted with laughter. "Go Paddy!"

"And in the fourth year, the Goblet of Fire spat out my name, making me a Triwizard Champion and thus ending my peace of mind for that year. Although, more importantly, Hagrid put on cologne to impress Madame Maxime and used axle grease on his hair to tame it." said Leila, making James and Lily splutter in laughter at the mental image.

"So you see, Halloweens are, in my world, a day of mayhem. I invite you to discard your sorrow and join me in creating chaos, in keeping with the tradition." said Leila with a flourish, grinning at them, pleased to see that they looked cheerful.

James was grinning at her. "I'm in. Who do we bother?"

Leila looked thoughtful. "Well, I have been wanting to get back at Sirius for being a big grumpy baby... But pranks aren't my area of expertise."

"Love, you're looking at the Master here." said James, looking smug.

Lily shook her head, amused. "Sirius is not going to be happy he's being replaced, James, let alone being made the target."

"Just temporarily." Leila assured her. "I'm no prankster. This is just me getting back at him for being a sulky old man."

That night, Sirius woke up to find six freshly carved Jack o' Lanterns grinning eerily down at him from the foot of his bed.

"What the fuck...?" he whispered, scrambling up and reaching for his wand. And to his horror, they stared dancing around him, screaming at him in a tinny, shriller version of his mother's voice

_Abomination of my flesh, _

_Disgrace to the house of Black_

_How dare you be a decent human being_

_You silly, idealistic, potato sack!_

"Happy Halloween, Leila." said James, clinking his mug of cinnamon spiced hot chocolate with hers.

"Happy Halloween, Dad." she replied, as both of them sat back comfortably on the couch watching Sirius spend the rest of night running around the house half laughing, half yelling, with the Jack o' Lanterns squealing, hot on his heels.

**A/N: It's October and obviously I had to throw in a Halloween bit. I can't wait to start carving pumpkins already! Happy Halloween in advance :)**

**And thanks for the lovely reviews! It was fantastic to read your feedback! Have a great week! **


	25. Chapter 25

Leila's loner spell came to an abrupt end a few days after her rather enjoyable Halloween. Sirius had cheered up and his good mood was still holding, much to her relief. James, Lily and Remus too were looking happier, having broken the mournful tradition of Halloween, reminding them that the world, as bleak as it was, had afforded them a new chance at happiness.

But she should've known it would be too good to last longer.

Her dreams had been becoming vivid, although they were rarely about Voldemort anymore. They were abstract, formless and terrifying in its endlessness. Leila couldn't put words to what they were but she always woke up with a feeling of dread.

She found herself wishing for the Voldemort related dreams again because they atleast those had visuals she could make sense of. But her Occlumency training had been so wired against his mind that her brain automatically protected her from them.

Until she started losing sleep again. Her defenses started crumbling and she knew she was slipping.

She stumbled into her bed one night, home alone, exhausted from fighting off two Boggarts in the third floor and a cabinet full of Droxy.

She drifted to uneasy sleep and the formless nightmares slowly gave way to something definitive.

_She slithered along the cold floor, watching, smelling. She was only here on a reconnaissance mission but that smell was overpowering. She changed course and slithered along the cool, tiled flooring till she reached what she was looking for. Fresh, human blood and the unguarded creature whose heart pumped it. _

_Delicious. _

_She recognized that man. She knew him. Red haired, balding, glasses perched on his tired face, his eyes drooping. She knew the Blood Traitor. _

_Her meal just got more delicious. Her jaws opened wide and she hurtled forward and sank her fangs deep into the man's arm, his blood gushing into her mouth._

_He yelled, waking, struggling but she held on. Her venom would kill him soon enough._

Leila woke up in shock, her heart hammering, a scream caught in her throat. She could taste the blood in her mouth and she was ravenous for more.

She got up and ran down the corridor, banging furiously on all the doors. No one was in. Half sobbing in terror and helplessness, she thought wildly, wondering how it was that it hadn't occurred to anyone to leave her with a means of communication to anyone in the Order. Her scrambled brain threw up an idea and she ran down to the second floor into the room where Phineas Nigellus's portrait was.

"Phineas!" she called desperately, hoping he could hear her. "PHINEAS!"

The man came around the portrait, looking furious. "That's Lord Black to you, you silly twit." he said to her.

"You need to tell Dumbledore that Arthur Weasley has been attacked!"

"Do I look like an owl to you?" he said haughtily.

"Please! Now! He's dying!"

Phineas Nigellus stared at her then sighed. He went around the portrait. Leila waited anxiously. He popped back in again and said, "He isn't here. I'll tell him when he gets back."

"When he gets back?" asked Leila horrified. "Mr Weasley doesn't have that sort of time!"

Thinking fast, she said, "Go and wait for him and tell him to get there as soon as possible."

She turned on her heel and ran out, ignoring Phineas calling after her, asking what exactly she thought she was doing.

Leila ran down the corridor, grabbed her wand. She blindly reached for the quill on her desk and chanted the spell for creating a portkey, thankful to Mad Eye for teaching it to her ("Before I teach you how to fight, Potter, I'm going to teach you how to get away. You need to know how to create a portkey. We'll get to Apparition later."). The place in her dream was unrecognizable but the flooring reminded her of the marble she had seen at the Ministry of Magic.

She shut her eyes and grabbed the quill. She felt a jerk behind her navel and found herself outside the rusty old bathrooms that served as an entrance for the Ministry. She quickly flushed herself in and found herself in the empty entrance. She ran all the way to the elevators and threw herself in, and said shakily, "Office of - Oh god, what is it - Misuse of Muggle Artefacts. Office of Misuse of Muggle Artfecats!"

The elevator shut and the number 8 lit up and it hurtled down. The elevator pinged on reaching and she was out even before the door fully opened.

"Mr Weasley!" Leila shouted, running through the corridors, hastily skimming her eyes over the plaques, looking for his office.

A pained groan answered her and she ran faster in that direction. She skidded to a stop in front of the partially opened door with 'Department of Misuse of Muggle Atrefacts' emblazoned on the front. Leila's wide eyes took in the trickle of blood steadily making its way out into the corridor. She threw the door open and found Mr Weasley on the floor, his face green, his glasses shattered next to him. He was clutching his bloody arm. A massive snake coiled around him, playing with its food.

Leila pointed her wand a it, her mind running through a dozen possible spells. But there wasn't one that she could use to hit it without risking hitting Mr Weasley as well and the man was clearly dying. There was no way he'd survive a curse.

"Get away!" she hissed at the snake in parseltongue.

The snake froze and slowly uncoiled itself, raising its body to easily meet her eyes.

"You're the other one..." the snake hissed.

Leila immediately took advantage of the snake's raised body and yelled, "Confringo!"

The snake hissed furiously as the spell threw its body backwards and almost sliced it, flames licking its scaly body. Leila was stunned when the flames seemed to die away and the snake spat and hissed. Dimly, she registered that it was magically protected because it should've been incinerated with her curse. But it had done sufficient damage and the snake hurtled past her, fast as lightening, and away.

Leila threw herself next to Mr Weasley and grabbed his arm. It looked terrible.

"Mr Weasley, it's me. Breathe, breathe, breathe." she pleaded.

"L-Leila?" he gasped, his face getting greener.

Leila knew she had to stop the poison from spreading further. Hands trembling, she reached for her sweatshirt and pulled it off, shivering as the cold air seeped through her thin t shirt. She wrapped it tightly above his wound, cutting off circulation, knotting it to keep it in place.

She then pressed down on the arm, increasing pressure to prevent any blood from flowing out of the limb. She looked at his face anxiously as he moaned, froth starting to bubble at the edge of his mouth. Some of the poison had already made its way to his heart and was starting kill him and her damage mitigation was only going to prolong his suffering.

Leila was starting to panic, thinking of every healing spell she knew but she realized she had no idea how to solve or even slow this any further.

"Oh god, don't die Mr Wealsey, please don't die." She whispered pleadingly, her eyes blurring with tears. She heard hurried footsteps down the corridor and she called, trying not to think about the possibility that whoever it was could be hostile.

"Help! Please!"

Sturgis and Hestia skidded to a stop outside the door, their eyes wide as they took in the sight.

"Snake... Voldemort's snake... It bit him.. Dream, I saw him.. Oh god, just help him!"

Sturgis fell to the floor next to her and grabbed Arthur Weasley and pulled him up to him. Hestia caught Leila's shoulders and pulled out a crumbled parchment from her pocket. She muttered the portkey incantation and pushed it into Arthur's hand, Hestia grabbing Leila's hand and placed it on it as well. The four of them disappeared, just as Yaxley and Thicknesse came down the corridor, their wands out. All they found was a room with blood and empty of human beings and they looked at one another. Lord Voldemort was not going to be happy.

The next few hours were a blur for Leila. The portkey deposited them right in the foyer of St Mungo's. Mr Weasley was whisked away by a group of Healers, Hestia going in with him, hurriedly explaining what the injury was from. Leila swayed slightly, partly from relief that he had help now and partly from the terror that she had been too late. Sturgis quickly caught her and guided her away. She had no idea where they were going or what on earth Sturgs was murmuring in her ear. It sounded reassuring but her brain had completely stopped processing all external signals. It was too wrapped up in the image of Mr Weasley, green, bloody and dying accompanied by the terrible feeling that somehow, she had disrupted the snake's path and sent it towards the full blooded human being.

_"Just a dream. It was just a dream But why could I see from inside the snake? Was Voldemort possessing it?"_ she wondered bleakly, knowing the answer to her own question. Voldemort had been inside the snake somehow but it hadn't seemed like it. She had felt very much serpentine and the creature was clearly driven by its instincts, over powering whatever control Voldemort had over it.

"Leila?" Sturgis shook her slightly, alarmed at they way her eyes had glazed over. She started and looked around. He had guided her to the plastic, uncomfortable chairs in the empty waiting room.

"Will he be okay?" she asked him shakily.

"Yes." he told her firmly. She looked at blearily. "Don't give me empty reassurances. Tell me the truth."

Sturgis took in her bloodied form, her shivering body and her wide eyes. He sighed, his shoulders drooping.

"I don't know, Leila. But he's in the best of hands now. Your mother has been called in too."

"How did you find us?"

"Hestia and I were working late as well. Fawkes appeared in front of us and we figured something was wrong so we followed him till he led us to the corridor. Then we heard you."

Leila exhaled slowly. "Fawkes must've gotten Phineas's message. I tried reaching Dumbledore and he wasn't in and I didn't know what to do and..." she babbled, unable to stop. Sturgis took off is cloak and put it around her and put his arm around her shoulders trying to calm her down.

"What happened? Tell me."

She told him exactly what happened, starting from her dream right to the point where Hestia and him found them.

He looked troubled. "And nothing happened to the snake?"

"It was sort of hurt but not even close to the level it should've been."

Sturgis sighed and rubbed his face. Hestia joined them soon and Sturgis quickly recounted Leila's tale. Unlike Sturgis, she looked awed.

"If you hadn't shown up, Arthur would've been a dead man. The Healers are still struggling and it doesn't look goo-" she quickly stopped on catching Sturgis's stern expression. He didn't want to send Leila into another shock. She was looking quite ill already.

"What the hell was that snake even doing in the Ministry?" wondered Sturgis.

"Looking about. It was a surveillance mission." Leila said flatly.

"How do you know? I mean, could you hear its thoughts?"

"Yeah. I'm parseltongue."

"Oh. Right." said Hestia, looking uncomfortable.

The three of them sat for hours, waiting, hoping and very anxious. They heard a clatter of feet and they looked up to find a very pale Mrs Weasley, a grim looking Bill behind her, accompanied by an equally grim Dumbledore, making their way to them.

"What happened? Where's Dad?" asked Bill tersely. Sturgis quickly recounted the story. Leila shut her eyes and buried her face in her hands, trying to block out the tale and not wanting to look at Mrs Weasley and Bill.

She was stunned to find herself pulled into Mrs Weasley's shaking arms.

"Oh you wonderful, reckless, brave, brave girl. Arthur could not have earned himself a better guardian angel tonight." Mrs Weasley whispered, hugging her tightly. Bill went to her other side and held Leila's hand, still white faced, and squeezed it in gratitude.

Dumbledore just stared down at her with an unreadable expression. She looked at him helplessly and he looked back, seeming to age in front of her.

They waited in silence. It was almost dawn before they heard someone make their way towards them. It was Lily.

She looked as tired as they felt, but she was smiling. All of them let out a collective sigh of relief.

"He'll be fine. We got the poison out. He's asleep. The bites aren't healing and will take a few weeks to close but he'll be as good as new by Christmas, I'd wager."

"Oh Thank God." thought Leila, feeling relief flood her entire body.

Mrs Weasley sobbed on her shoulder. "You saved him. You saved my husband! How can we ever-"

"Oh come on, Mrs Wesley." said Leila, smiling tiredly, patting her back. "Don't be ridiculous."

"First Ginny, now Arthur-" cried Mrs Weasley.

"Your sons have saved my behind more than I can count. So don't start the tallying because I'm going to have to sign up as a full time body guard for your family to even it out." Leila said warningly. Mrs Weasley spluttered a weak laugh and held her. Bill punched her shoulder lightly, grinning weakly. "Can we see him?" he asked Lily.

Lily nodded, smiling. Mrs Weasley and Bill went down to the surgery hall. Sturgis and Hestia went looking for coffee, promising to get one back for Leila as well. Dumbledore stood up, squeezing Leila's shoulder comfortingly. "I better head to HQ and tell your father, Sirius and Remus everything is okay. They've been in quiet a state ever since they returned and found the house empty." He too disappeared, leaving Lily and Leila alone.

"You sure he's fine?"

"Yes. That was quick thinking, restricting his blood flow."

"I couldn't think of anything else."

Lily sat down and put her arm around her daughter and held her. "Do you have any idea how proud of you I am? What you did tonight... Words can't begin to tell you just how much I love you."

Leila swallowed and huddled into her mothers arms. "Thanks. So how long before one of you call me out for running off on my own? Because this time, in my defense, I had no idea how to reach any of you and I did try getting to Dumbledore first before running off."

"Surprisingly responsible of you. Should I hope that you're actually putting responsibility ahead of your manic desire to go around saving people?"

"So far, so good."

Lily looked up as a man walked towards them.

"Healer Potter? I presume that's your daughter, Leila?"

Leila looked up to find a sharp eyed, tall man who looked down at her with great interest.

"Leila, this is Healer Smethwyck. We were colleagues back in other reality and much to my delight, we work together here as well."

Leila shook his hand and said, "Nice to meet you, sir."

"I've heard all about you, of course." he said keenly.

"Good or bad?" asked Leila dryly.

"That depends on whether I'm more interested in your mother's version or Rita Skeeter's." he said, his eyes alight with humour.

Leila couldn't help the smile that crossed her face. "How is he?"

"He'll get better. I was wondering if you could describe the snake. It might be easier to identify a more efficient antidote if we knew what exactly it was. I'm familiar with most venom types but this one seems really complex."

Leila frowned. "I'm don't know much about snakes, Healer Smethwyck, but it's nothing like the ones I've seen in muggle zoos. It's quite massive, around ten feet or more, dark green and I'm pretty sure has been exposed to or modified by dark magic."

Healer Smethwyck looked thoughtful. "I'll look into it." he said absently. He turned to Lily. "Go home, Lily. I'll take over from here." He left, still looking preoccupied.

"He's not going to have any luck. That snake had Voldemort inside it." said Leila bluntly. Lily started next to her. "How do you know that?"

"I was inside its head in the dream." said Leila as way of explanation but Lily only looked more bewildered.

Leila continued to stare after Healer Smethwyck. He still looked a bit preoccupied. "Is he okay?"

Leila sighed. "Mostly. He was single in the other reality, a brilliant man and quite the charmer. He's married with two young children in this reality. He's often disoriented, still trying to make sense of his life. He's thankfully just as brilliant in either reality but he's definitely having trouble coping."

Sturgis and Hestia made their way back to them and told them they'd stay and keep guard over Arthur. Mad Eye would take over from them later in the day. Leila took her coffee cup and thanked them, handing Sturgis his cloak back.

"Tell Hermione I said hi." she told Hestia, who smiled and nodded at her.

Lily and her took a portkey back to Grimmauld Place where James, Sirius and Remus were waiting, pale and tired, all of them with five o clock shadows.

James stared at Leila in horror. Her t shirt and pajama pants were covered in blood and she looked a complete mess.

"It's Mr Weasley's blood." she told him tiredly.

"Dumbledore told us what happened." said Remus quietly, his hand on Leila's shoulder.

"Was this the first time you've had these dreams since Hogsmeade?" asked James, frowning at her.

"Yeah. The Occumency was really doing its thing but I've been slipping up recently." admitted Leila, too exhausted to notice that she'd let slip the O-word.

Sirius caught on immediately. "You've been practicing Occlumency? Is that why the dreams stopped?"

Leila wanted to smack herself on the face. "I've been blocking my mind against him. I didn't want him turning the tables on me and possessing me."

"That's really rather smart." said Remus, looking impressed. "How on earth have you been practicing? It's difficult to learn Occlumency by yourself!"

Leila looked at the four of them and sighed. She figured if she was going to come clean, she better right away because the alternate was an outright lie which would fall apart because she had every intention of going back to Snape to train.

"Snape's been teaching me. We agreed on it the night Azkaban was broken into. I haven't had the chance to resume since we moved to Grimmauld Place, another reason why I'm probably slipping up."

She waited for the explosion. And sure enough-

"YOU _WHAT_?"

"ARE YOU _INSANE_?"

"YOU LET THAT SLIME BALL IN YOUR HEAD? _INSIDE YOUR HEAD_? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?"

"LEILA! HE'S A DEATH EATER! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA-"

It went on for what felt like hours. Leila groaned and buried her head in her hands, waiting for them to run out of steam.

Sirius grabbed her hand and pulled it away from her face, his grip on her wrists so tight that she could feel her circulation cut off. His own face was white and tight with fury.

"_Don't you dare tune us out._ Talk. _Now_. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Look," she began, forcing herself to stay calm. "I know how you feel about him. And you know I'm not his biggest fan-"

"The last I checked, you despised him as much as we did." snarled Sirius, his grip on her wrist tightening impossibly.

"Yes. I do. Or I did anyway." She took a deep breath. "He's an Order member too and Dumbledore trusts him-"

"An Order member who never shows up for the meetings, mysteriously locked away in his dungeons." said Remus coldly.

"And Dumbledore's trust means fuck all where Snape is concerned." said James furiously.

"_I_ trust him." said Leila firmly. "He has his reasons-"

James and Sirius laughed, a bit hysterically. "Oh you trust him. That makes it all okay. Let's give him the clean sheet, why don't we? The fifteen year old trusts him. Fantastic!" said James, his face twisted in a sneer.

Remus stared at her. "H-Has he... You don't think he hoodwinked her, do you?"

Leila felt a flash of anger. "He didn't." she snapped. "We called a truce that night-"

"Did you now?" It was Lily who spoke, her lips in a thin line. "Maybe it's time to tell you what he did. He was the one-"

"-who told Voldemort about the prophecy and sent him after us. I know." Leila said wearily.

"You knew? You knew and you still went to him?" asked James, disgusted.

"He didn't know what he was doing. He has spent all his life paying for that. He had no idea that Voldemort would go after helpless children." _"Or the woman he loves."_

"Are you listening to yourself?" roared Sirius.

"He's fed you some rubbish story and you bought it so easily." said James, beyond furious.

"No. He told me no story. I saw all this in Voldemort's head. I knew for sure that he was on out side before I accepted his offer. I would've never agreed if I had the faintest doubt. I'm not stupid enough to expose my mind to a possible Death Eater." said Leila firmly.

"And how do you know he's with us?" asked Lily, narrowing her eyes. "What proof do you have?"

"It's not in my place to talk about it." said Leila firmly. "It's his and his alone." Leila blanched at the thought of having something so personal coerced out of her. If she were Snape, she'd have wanted to take the secret to her grave.

"Snape lost all right to privacy the minute he dared to come to you, after everything he's done and think he can be the one to help."

"I accepted, eagerly, might I add. The choice was mine. If you have to be angry with someone, let that be me. But I will not talk about something I have no right to discuss with anyone else. I have proof of his loyalty and if you trust me, then know that I'm not making a mistake. That should be enough."

"It's not. I'm sorry, Leila. But trust in you is not enough. Not in this case." said Lily quietly, her eyes burning.

Leila looked at her mother's unforgiving face and she felt terrible, for her and Snape. She remembered how she'd felt wen Ron had sneered at her when her name came out of the Goblet. She remembered the feeling of betrayal, bitterness that her friend had turned his back against her. She understood Lily's anger. She also felt deeply moved by Snape's desperation for redemption, his silent suffering, trying to right a wrong, consumed by his unrequited love.

Leila slumped back and looked at the four of them, their faces a mixture of rage, indignation and disappointment.

_"And thus ends the domestic peace. I knew it was too good to last."_

"Then, I'm afraid, there's nothing I can do about this. I've been putting off going to Snape since we moved here because I know how you feel about him and I didn't know to tell you about it. But now that you know, I will resume."

"What makes you think I'll allow it?" asked James, his eyes flashing dangerously as he towered over her.

Leila smiled in a brittle way. She wasn't worried about him. With their schedules, she could disappear for hours. And she had Dumbledore on her side. She'd get her way. But she knew it would make things extraordinarily unpleasant.

"Good luck." she told James, wryly. She got up and started towards teh stairs.

"I thought you had more sense than this, Leila. I'm disappointed in you." Remus said quietly. Hurt flashed across her face. Of the four of them, hearing that from Remus was extremely painful. He was the one whose approval she sought the most and the one she still went to when in doubt.

She shook her head at him and continued up till she reached the comforting, welcoming aura in Regulus's room.

"Well, at least _you're_ not mad at me." she muttered to the room in general as she pulled off her clothes and went into the bathroom, wincing at the way the blood had dried up and stuck to her bare arms.

She desperately wanted to sleep but she was terrified of closing her eyes, worried about what she'd see next. So she made her way down, hoping everyone had dispersed. She went into the kitchen and found Sirius there by himself, looking like he wanted to kill someone.

Leila knew this was going to be unpleasant but she decided that that if this was going to be the norm henceforth, she might as well get used to it. Ignoring Sirius, she went to the bread box and pulled out two slices.

"Are you wearing Regulus's clothes?" he demanded from behind her. Leila started and looked down. She had thrown on on of his old, green shirts over her tights. They were long enough to come mid thigh and she had rolled up the sleeves and they were incredibly comfortable.

"Yeah. I kept his clothes when I moved in." she said distractedly, completely missing the look of abject fury on Sirius's face when she said that.

"Do you have some sort of affinity towards Death Eaters?" he demanded. "First Zabini, then Snape, now Regulus?"

"Blaise isn't a Death Eater." she said calmly.

"He will be in a few years. I knew his father. Alexander Zabini is a pureblood fascist-"

"-who abandoned his wife and son. Blaise has never set eyes on his father since he left them when he was three."

"Darla Zabini is no angel either and your darling Blaise-"

"I'd appreciate it if you stopped badmouthing my friend. You don't even know him."

"Just like I don't know Snape, eh?"

Leila chose not to respond. There was no way this conversation would end well. But her silence only served to infuriate him further. He stood up and strode around the table to her and grabbed her arm and spun her around, his other hand forcing her chin up to look at him.

"What are you doing?" he asked, quietly. "Is this your way of punishing us for locking you away, for keeping you safe?"

Leila stared at him, bewildered. "This has nothing to do with any of you. This is about me and my agreement with Snape. It was in no way influenced by you all."

"Yeah, I get that. It didn't even occur to you to ask, or care what we'd think."

"I knew how you felt so I didn't see the point asking. And if I didn't care, I wouldn't have worked so hard to keep it a secret."

"That's your defense for lying?"

"Omission isn't necessarily a lie." Leila said, her eyes locked on his.

He stepped even closer, his body pressed tight against hers, her back pushing against the counter behind her. "Do you think your technicalities are going to get you out of this?"

"Get me out of what, exactly? You're going to lock me up, are you? You're going tie me up and keep me chained to your side? Tell me, former prisoner of Azkaban, do you know what happens to people when they're locked up for no good reason?"

Sirius's eyes flashed and he loomed over her, the hand on her chin sliding down to grab her upper arm while his other hand left her arm and moved to her back, pulling her away from the counter and tight against him. "It's not for no good reason if it keeps you safe from yourself."

"I'm not a crazy person. Don't talk to me like I am one."

"You're beyond crazy. You lack judgement, you're reckless and spiteful for putting us through this."

"I have no interest in even trying to make you see my point of view because you're too blinded by your hate and prejudice to even attempt to understand."

"You're trusting him blindly!"

"You weren't complaining when I trusted you blindly at the Shrieking Shack, when you held Ron, Hermione and me at wand point, raving about dead people turning into rats."

"You knew I wasn't malicious. You saw it my eyes. I know you did." he whispered, slowly lowering his face to hers, his eyes still locked on hers. Leila unconsciously leaned up too, her heart beating faster, fluttering in sync with with his.

"How do you know I don't see it in Snape's eyes?" she asked him softly.

His hands moved up and cupped her face tenderly. Her own hands gently wrapped around his wrists, she looked at him beseechingly, trying to make him see.

He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers. "No one is privy to your thoughts. You guard them jealously, just as you do your feelings, your past... Regardless, you let him enter your mind. Why him? Why does he have that privilege?" His voice was laced with envy and bitterness.

Leila stilled at his words. "_Oh Sirius..."_

"I'd rather he didn't. But it can't be helped." she said morosely, knowing that this would never suffice. She was right. Sirius's smile was acerbic, his eyes still closed.

"You're picking him over us, over me."

"No..." she said, her hands leaving his wrists and travelling to his hair. She buried her face in his shoulder, her hands gently stroking his hair. "How could you ever think that?"

"But you did." he said flatly. He wrapped his arms tight around her, possessively. She was overwhelmed by him, his body against hers, his hands clawing desperately, kneading the flesh of her waist.

"Leave him be. Stay here with us, with me. I'll find another way to help you protect your mind. Be with me, Leila."

_"But of course..."_ she thought, dazed and wanting nothing more than to stay here like this with him. She pulled back and looked at his face. They mirrored the longing she felt, his gray eyes boring into hers and oh_ how she wanted him_.Leila was awed by just how much she wanted to his eyes to light up and his wicked smile to be directed at her. She couldn't bear to see him like this, pleading and unhappy.

The loud crash sounded from the living room, making the both look up in alarm. They reached for their wands and started towards the room, Sirius using his free arm to push her behind him, shielding her with is body.

"Sirius? Leila?"

"Ron?"

Leila dropped her wand and rushed to him, throwing her arms around her best friend. He hugged her back and laughed, tossing the used portkey aside. Leila stepped back and blinked at him.

"Bloody hell!" she said, awed. Ron had clearly had his growth spurt. In the space of the months where she hadn't seen him, he'd gone from being taller than her to taller than almost everybody she knew. He looked gangly and all over the place, his arms heavy around her. His hair was longer and shaggy falling carelessly around his face.

"Right back at you, Potter." he said, looking at her appreciatively.

"Oi! We prefer not being ignored just because beanstalk got to you first.." said Fred indignantly. Leila grinned at him, George and Ginny who were all jumped at her in a messy group hug.

"I love you lot but I need to breathe." Leila gasped, pulling away after a few moments of rough housing. Sirius was the next to get mauled. He laughed, eyed their bags and grinned.

"So you're finally moving here?"

"Yeah. After the attack on Dad, it's gotten obvious he's in the Order. The Burrow has been deemed unsafe and we all thought we better move before Uncle Gideon kills himself with stress."

Leila and Sirius's face lit up, delighted at the prospect of more people moving in. _"It'll brighten up the place. And it's going to annoy Kreacher so, so much." _

Siriuss placed his hands on Leila's shoulders, eyes twinkling, he said, "Gentlemen and Lady, I'd like to introduce you the keeper of the keys in this house, the lady of the manor and the head chef. Don't piss her off or she'll stick you in the rooms with Droxy and poisonous arachnids."

They both tried to ignore the way their stomachs fluttered when he referred to her as the lady of _his_ house.

"As if." protested Leila. "I'm the resident house elf. And your rooms are the nicer ones, I promise. Come on!" She started to lead them upstairs, when Sirius grabbed her hand and whispered softly, "Promise me, you'll never see Snape."

Leila started. The Weasleys' interruption had broken whatever hypnotic spell her moment with Sirius had cast over her and now, clear headed, she frowned at him. "Don't make this about you. My reasons for turning to him are larger than all our petty disputes. I'm not promising any such thing."

She pulled away from him just as the Weasleys' started casting them curious looks and smiled at them and turned her attention back to them, leaving behind a darkly angry Sirius.

Hermione moved in as well and as the evening dawned, Leila realized this was the first day since she moved here that she hadn't run around doing housework and she realized that there was no dinner. She quickly got and started heading down. She was surprised to find that everyone followed her out.

"What're you doing?"

"We're supposed to help you with the work around here." said George easily.

Leila narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Why?"

"Because we're amazing and we love you." said Ginny brightly.

"The real reason?"

"Mum hasn't shut up about how unfair it is that you were stuck with all the work in 'this evil house.' So she made us promise that when we moved here, we have to help poor, tortured, good-natured, kind hearted Leila or she'll kill us."

"I love your mum."

"It's unfair how she takes your side even though you're not the little orphan girl anymore."

Leila laughed. "If it helps,_ my_ mother is furious with me at the moment."

Ron grinned. "Really? Why?"

"You don't want to know."

She went in and her guard went up immediately. James, Lily, Sirius and Remus were in the kitchen, seated casually. _"A little too casually..."_ Leila thought, narrowing her eyes at them.

"I thought you'd be out?" Leila endeavoured to keep her tone mild.

"We thought we'd give you company." said Sirius airily.

Leila looked at him suspiciously then went to the larder to figure out what she could do about dinner. She could hear James and Lily re-acquainting themselves with her friends. The last few times they'd met the Weasleys, it had been brief and James had never met Hermione before. Leila had a strange feeling that the four of them had gone out of the way to be there tonight. She came back into the kitchen, her arms laden with an assortment of meat, vegetables and spices. Hermione, and George got up to help, as did Remus.

The conversation was light and slowly drifted to Fred and George's joke experiments. Sirius was raving about them and telling James all about it. James looked fascinated. "Say boys, if you're looking for an investor..."

"They refused." Sirius told him grumpily.

"Why?"

"Owing one person money for the rest of our lives is enough, Mr P. Besides, we still have plenty left over from the first round of aid capital as well as the promise of more if we need it, so no worries."

Leila turned to them, pausing her chopping. "Uh, yeah, guys, about that... You need to change the paperwork. Your investor is James Potter, not me. The Potter vault is in his control now. Sorry."

James's eyes widened. "You're the investor?"

"Yep. Sorry I forgot to mention that when I gave you the keys."

James's face lit up in delight. "Fantastic! Boys, Leila's word stays. Whatever you need, as much as you need!"

"What?" yelled Sirius. "I want in too!"

Fred and George looked at each other slowly. "Well, fine. But on the condition that we have some payback terms. We didn't mind having this open ended agreement with Leila but if you two are going to invest, we have to agree on return rates."

James and Sirius began protesting but the twins shook their heads. "Please, Mr Prongs and Padfoot. Don't hurt out pride."

James and Sirius sighed their agreement.

"How come you never insisted on it with Leila?" demanded Sirius, a bit miffed.

"Because it's Lil'Lu!" said George easily, as way of explanation. That should've been their first clue that their ploy to get Leila away from Snape was going to fail.

Dinner went on without incident, the Weasleys and Hermione telling them about Hogwarts and throwing in a few stories about Leila for good measure. Leila rolled her eyes and laughed along with them but stayed alert. She wasn't fooled by the easy conversation. She could sense an agenda. And rightly so.

"So is Snape really the lunatic that Leila makes him out to be?" asked James, offhandedly.

_"And there it is..."_ Leila gave him a look of disgust. _"Really? You're going to turn my friends against me over this?"_

His question was answered with a barrage of abuses against Snape and Leila sighed, dropping her fork onto her empty plate.

She stayed silent, letting them all vent their indignation, righteous annoyance and jokes. The story of Neville's Boggart was particularly well received, with James clapping Remus on the back with great pride. Eventually, Ron turned to her and laughed, "Although, if anyone has real reason to complain, it's Leila. Merlin, that creep is infinitely worse with her. Dean, Seamus and I had a bet going in every class to see how long it'd be before Snape took off on her when we entered class. I think the current record stands at three seconds."

"Wow. So they hate each other." said James, with deliberate theatrics.

Leila decided to give him a bit of grief and said, "Apparently, he thinks I'm an arrogant, bullying twat like my father and godfather. I guess he didn't like it that you were so popular and got your way all the time."

Sirius and James sneered slightly but Remus and Lily stilled at that, as if suddenly remembering something that had receded to the back of their minds over the years.

Sirius put his own fork down and said serenely to the Weasleys and Hermione, "Leila has gotten over her anti-Snape sentiments. She's taken up one-on-one Occlumency classes with him and both of time are tea time pals now."

Leila was surprised he hadn't added, "AAAnd go!" after that statement.

The silence from her friends made Leila cringe. _"Some parents you lot are... arseholes."_

"You're joking." said Ron, finally, looking at her in disbelief. "B-But you hate him!"

"It's not like I love him now." said Leila irritably. "We just... we're not trying to kill each other any longer and he's helping me."

"Yeah but _Snape_?" asked Ginny, revolted.

"If I had a long list of Occlumens I could train from, I'd have looked through it first." said Leila shortly.

"She's gone over to the dark side." said George shaking his head in mock regret.

Leila's eyes flashed and she started to say something but she was cut off by Fred. "We already knew that when she punched Nott _and_ Oliver after the Quidditch finals in third year to break up their fist fight."

"And when she took Zabini to the dance when she had a whole school, actually three schools of boys to pick from."

"And when she called Trelawney a mad old cow to her face." added Ron.

Leila stared at them, a slow smile spreading on her face as she realized they'd already moved on from the fact that she and Snape were pals.

"Yes but Snape-?" prodded Sirius, sensing he was losing them.

"He's helping, isn't he?" said Ginny with a sigh. "Who'd have thought? What did you do, Leila? Bribe him with new shampoo?"

"He's a Death Eater-"

"But Dumbledore trusts him, doesn't he?" said Ron, shoveling food down his throat.

"And he did save Leila's life in first year." added Hermione. She turned to Leila and said, "I told you he wasn't that bad."

"You guys don't think she's way off base? You're not going to talk sense into her?" asked James in disbelief.

"Nah. She knows what she's doing. Leila hates him more than any of us and if she's going to him, she has her reasons, I guess." said Ron shrugging carelessly. "Although, if you go missing, I'm telling the Aurors to check Snape's house first."

Hermione was looking at James and Lily and it slowly dawned her what they were trying to do.

"Mr Potter, Mrs Potter?" she said timidly. "Leila knows what she's doing. I trust her with my life and if she thinks something is important or if she's giving someone the benefit of the doubt, I'm going to stand by her."

The Weasleys nodded in affirmation.

"Let's head up." said Fred cheerfully, choosing not to notice the tension that had descended on the table. "George and I have a few product demonstrations and we expect a standing ovation." The trooped out, leaving Leila alone.

She tipped all their dishes into the sink, pointed her wand and murmured "Scourgify". The dishes began cleaning themselves. She turned to the four of them and smiled sardonically, "Nice try, trying to peer pressure me. As a group of friends who stick by one another no matter what, you should've seen that coming."

She left to the boys' room, truly appreciating her friends and grateful that she finally had them with her. Life was going to be a bit easier now.


	26. Chapter 26

"Hey Mr Wesley, you look great." said Leila teasingly, handing him a get-well-soon card.

"Thank you, Leila." he replied, grinning. "I feel fabulous, all set for my front page picture for Witch Weekly to be taken."

Leila laughed. She had come with Ron, Ginny, Hermione, the twins and Bill to visit Mr Weasley. Mrs Weasley had taken up residence in the guest bed next to his and gratefully accepted the muffins Hermione and her had baked that morning.

"Hospital food really is awful" she whispered to them. "But don't tell Arthur. If he knows I agree, he won't eat it."

"How's it going dad? Any pretty trainee Healers?" asked George with a grin.

"As a matter of fact-" began Mr Weasley and then on catching Mrs Weasley's glare he quickly changed is tone, "I haven't seen any. Sorry boys."

"Coward!" Fred stage whispered.

Bill cuffed them both and said, "Stop getting him into trouble."

"Too late for that." muttered Mrs Weasley, giving him a dark look.

Ron raised his eyebrows. "Did you actually ogle at some-"

"No!" exclaimed Mr Weasley, looking indignant. "She's just upset because Augustus Pye, a wonderful young trainee, was talking to me about a few muggle remedies we could try to speed up the process and your mother didn't like it."

"But you went ahead with it anyway." said Bill knowingly.

"No, no..." protested Arthur weakly. Mrs Weasley narrowed her eyes at his tone. "Arthur... what did you do?"

"Nothing!"

Mrs Weasley marched to his bed and peered down his shirt.

"Your bandages have been changed." she said, her words covered in frost. "I went home for a shower and I was back in less than an hour. You couldn't have possibly managed some dimwitted, idiotic muggle nonsense in that small space of time, could you?"

Arthur looked pleadingly at Leila and Hermione. "Girls, you know this is an effective remedy for wounds and it's not as asinine as it sounds. Tell her."

"What is, Mr Weasley?" asked Hermione carefully.

"Stitches..."

"Ah." Leila and Hermione looked at him keenly. "Did it work?" asked Leila in interest.

"No." he said regretfully. "The snake venom dissolved them."

"Stitches?" whispered Molly, her voice very soft and very dangerous. "It sounds like sewing the skin back together. It can't possibly be something _that_ stupid, can it Arthur?"

"Er... well, Mrs Weasley, it works really well with muggle wounds..." spoke Hermione, carefully.

The explosive scream from Mrs Weasley made them all run for cover.

Hermione, Ron and Leila practically ran out to the main foyer while Fred, Ginny and George scooted off in the direction of the cafe. Bill heroically stayed back, possibly to keep his mum from throttling his dad.

The three of them wandered in the places there were allowed, keenly reading the names of the different sections. They heard a voice call out Leila's name behind them. She turned in surprise. It was Healer Smethwyck. He came up to her and smiled at her.

"Hello, sir." she said politely. She introduced Ron and Hermione to him and he nodded at them brightly. He turned back to her and said, "Could I speak with you for a moment?"

Ron and Hermione immediately backed away and said they'd be in the cafe with the others. Leila followed Smethwyck to his office. It was a large spacious one, filled with vials on racks. He gestured to the seat and offered her a cup of coffee which she gratefully accepted. When he had his back turned, she did a quick spell on it to check that it wasn't poisoned. It wasn't. Leila felt slightly ashamed of checking on the man her mother worked side by side with every single day. If he was dodgy, Lily would've uncovered it by now but her paranoia levels were usually sky high when she was out. She supposed it was because she was constantly listening in on the Order meetings on the sly, she heard a lot more horror stories than the others and it was keeping her on edge.

He turned his attention back to her and handed her a sketch pad. She looked at him puzzled. He said, "I've gotten pictures of all the snakes that had some resemblance to the one your described. I was wondering if you could identify it for me."

"Sure." she said, starting to thumb through the pages. "I thought Mr Weasley is getting better?"

"He is. But its a slow process and if You Know Who is going to start setting this snake on people, we need to develop the antidote immediately. Arthur Weasley was extremely lucky. We might not have that to our advantage the next time it happens."

Leila looked at him respect. She understood why Lily had taken a liking to him. She quietly thumbed through all the images but returned it to him, shaking her head in regret. "I'm sorry, sir. None of those are a match."

Smethwyck sighed and said, "I suppose ruling out options is also a victory. This snake of his must be a rare species or as you said, he must've transformed it with dark magic. It's not much to go on with... I'll see what I can do."

Leila nodded. He looked like he wanted to say something else. "Sir?" she prodded.

He exhaled. "Your mother was essentially childless all these years in the other reality. So was I. But she, like me, finds herself a parent here. How is she handling it?"

Leila leaned back and looked at him, wondering what to say. "Sir, if you're trying to draw a parallel to your situation, maybe my mum isn't the best reference point. She was alive in only one reality and she was a parent who lost her daughter and found her again. In a sense, she was rediscovering parenthood. And as far as her personal life goes, she was married in both realities to the same person."

"I know, I know." he agreed. "But.. I feel different now. Not the kind of father I'm used to being. I feel so conflicted. And my wife. _My wife! _I love her so much and it terrifies me. I was never the one woman type of man in the other reality. A family seemed so inappropriate in that darkness that I never tried. But here... I had a chance and war is upon us again. What if I was right? What if I lose them to the violence? Is it wrong that I wish I were alone again?"

"I don't know, sir." whispered Leila, looking helpless. "It can't be helped can it? You soldier on and hope for the best."

"How can you say that?" he asked anguished.

"I lost my parents once and I stand to lose them again. But I don't think I could wish to reverse this. It's another chance. Why not make good of it? We all die one day, don't we?"

He leaned back, not looking very comforted. Leila sighed. "I'm not being helpful, am I?"

He smiled wryly. "I'm asking a young girl, rather than a fellow parent about how to resolve my feelings. I'm not being very clear headed either, am I?"

Leila shrugged and smiled, "Oh I don't know. Thinking outside of the box helps."

Smethwyck chuckled at that. He suddenly looked up and broke into an easy smile. "Ah Lily! Look who I manged to snag and force a conversation out of."

Lily came into the room and looked at Leila, surprised and pleased.

"Leila? Are you here to see me?" she asked hopefully. Leila jumped up. "Erm, no. I was with Ron and Hermione and Healer Smethwyck ran into me. He wanted me to identify the snake and-" she stopped. Lily looked crushed. Things between Leila and the four of them had become tense and Leila stayed clear of them, still angry. Now that she had her friends, it was also easier to ignore them at mealtimes.

James and Sirius had responded by returning the favour and ignoring her as well but Remus and Lily were regretting their fight and seemed to be trying to make amends.

"But now that I'm here, show me your office. Are you allowed to have your kids run around the place?" said Leila smiling shyly at Lily.

Lily perked up immediately and looped her arm through Leila's.

She showed Leila around and described her work as a Healer. Leila was fascinated. "It sounds incredible."

"Would you consider becoming a Healer?" asked Lily keenly.

Leila laughed at that. "If school ever reopens, let me try and pass my OWLs first. I think being a Healer requires top grades and I'm nowhere near that. I could qualify for passing off as a crazy fake witch doctor in muggle circuses or gypsy camps though."

Lily wasn't amused. Leila noticed that neither parent of hers, or for that matter even Remus and Sirius, laughed when she made jokes about her dead-end life in the wizarding world. She supposed one day she was going to have to tell them that the real reason she made no plans was that she was probably not going survive past her early twenties, and that was by the most optimistic estimate. And even if she did survive, she was probably going to run off and see the world at leisure, muggle style, horsing about. She wondered if this utter lack of ambition or direction was normal.

Leila finally bid her mother goodbye, promising to wait for her for dinner. She made her way out alone, looking for a sign pointing her to the cafe. And that's when she caught sight of a very familiar person.

She sped towards him, dancing her way around the people who were walking down the corridor.

"Blaise?" she called. He turned, holding a paper cup and stared at her. Leila froze. Being seen with her was not a good thing for someone whose last name was Zabini in the current circumstances. But her momentary worry was baseless. His entire face lit up and he practically ran to her and threw his arms around her.

"Potter! Bloody hell! Where did you disappear to?"

Leila was stunned at his display of emotion. It was so unlike him. She patted him awkwardly on his back and said, "I could say the same about you, you twat."

She pulled back from him and looked at him wearily. "Are you okay- Oh hang on. Is this over emotional bit from the other reality?"

He looked confused for a second then his expression cleared. "Nah. I'm dead in the other reality."

"Me too!" exclaimed Leila brightly, with enthusiasm akin to discovering that they both supported the same Quidditch team.

"Thank Merlin. Have you seen the chaos? If my mother weeps at the sight of me one more time..."

"Your mother cried? Mascara and all?"

"There's this thing called Delia's stay-on magical mascara that can only come off with a specific removal spell. Get out of your cave, Potter."

"I'm so happy to see you that I'm not even going to make fun of you for knowing that. Why was your mother crying? I thought you inherited her lack of tear ducts?"

"Apparently, they slaughtered me when when I was eight years old because my mum refused to sleep with a Death Eater. She fled to America after that, heart broken. Imagine that. She was heart broken over me!" He looked amazed.

Leila rolled her eyes. "Like you didn't know she would be. Your interdependence in this world is a little creepy and it was probably the same, even worse over there."

"Sour grapes, orphan."

"Not any more, you emotionless basket case. My parents lived in the other reality. Only I was snuffed out."

"You have parental problems now? Golly! Can we sleepover, braid each other's hair and grumble about how your mummy and my mummy just don't get us?"

"Sometimes, I get the feeling you hide genuine fantasies behind all that sarcasm. And grow your hair or you'll be the only one with work that night."

He gave her a pitying look. "Potter, there's a spell that braids your hair instantly, into any fashion you please. Normal, french, twist-"

"Please stop talking before I completely lose respect for you."

"I don't make fun of you for knowing all about Quidditch apparel, you man."

"Okay, fine. You can be the girl in this relationship if I'm the guy."

"For the record, I think I'd like you on top. Does that make me a traditionalist in the current scenario?"

"It's barely been two minutes and you're propositioning me? Show some respect and wait for at least five minutes, Zabini."

"Speaking of which, are you with Diggory Version 2 now that your boyfriend is the land of never-return?"

Coming from anybody else, this would've sucker-punched Leila. But she knew Blaise well enough to know he meant no harm and this was how they spoke. It was almost a relief to talk to him about all this because it automatically removed guilt and any emotion from the discussion.

"No." she said matter-of-factly. "I don't think I have it in me to throw myself into this one's arms after I've watched his counterpart die. That's just disturbing and heartless."

"You and I have very different definitions of heartless. Too bad, Potter. I liked him, sort of."

"No, you didn't."

"Alright, I didn't. He was too pretty for someone who didn't put the effort. And he was _Hufflepuff_."

"Seeing as Hogwarts is shut indefinitely, I think you're going to have to find a new bias that isn't rendered redundant in a few years' time."

Blaise looked around, realizing that it indeed wasn't Hogwarts. He gestured down the hall and said, "Come to my room. It's a private one and is soundproof."

"Why are you in the hospital?" she asked him, looking over him for boils or anything unusual. He didn't respond and gestured for to keep quiet as well.

Leila eyed him with amusement. Like Ron, he too seemed to have gone through a growth spurt. But being Blaise, he seemed to have managed it with more grace, looking very compact, his long limbs not flailing around. He too had shot up to be significantly taller and angular. Leila found it disconcerting to have to crane her neck so much to see his face.

They entered the lift and he pressed the topmost floor. He stayed silent and Leila suspected he didn't want to say anything when he was surrounded by strangers. By the time they had reached the last but one floor, they were the only ones but he still waited for the lift to stop. He got off and led the way. Leila looked around in interest. This floor was different from the rest. There were very few rooms and the doors were wooden and polished. He went to the farthest one and opened it and gestured her in. She entered and looked around. It was like any other hospital room, bare, white and with a single iron cot. The only difference was that it was a sole occupancy room and had a nice view of t Regent's park.

He shut the door behind him and said, "Welcome to Casa Zabini."

"In a hospital?"

"Yes."

"Oh, this is going to be good. Why, Blaise, are you living in a bleak room in a hospital instead of your posh room at home which is amply equipped with your grooming products and many, many robes and adoring house elves?"

"I'm hiding here till mum sorts out stuff in America and then I can join her."

"And start acting school?"

"And disappear. The Dark Lord is fishing through Death Eater ranks for children, training them up to brand them when they're older. My idiot father will sell us out soon enough and my mother and I have no interest in this lunacy. She's safe for now but I can't lounge around in my house without being forced into dinner parties with Dark Lord's cronies and their children. They happen to be part of my social circle. So I'm waiting here, pretending I have Dilibert's Largis so that they'll keep away from me. And Mungos' security is top notch and the only people who'll come in here are the Healers."

"Dilibert's Largis?"

"It's a degenerative condition that affects the spine and eventually the brain. The person's magic turns against them and starts disintegrating their bones and crushing their insides, first making them insane and then eventually, their heart explodes."

"Are you making this up?"

"I may have been a bit theatrical with my description but essentially, no. It's a rare illness and it is unclear as to whether it is genetic or transmitted between people who have specific blood types. That ambiguity keeps me in isolation because most purebloods are related in one way or another and it's impossible to tell whether or not I'll pass it on to anyone. So no one visits me. It's very tragic." He winked at her.

"You wanker!"

"Tell me you're not impressed."

"I am." said Leila, grudgingly. "How the hell do you get away with this with HEALERS?"

"Again, the condition is so rare and traditionally, families lock up sufferers in some part of their house, allowing only their house elves to come in contact with them. They die alone and the families refuse to tell anyone about it, because no one will want to marry into a family with cases because it might affect their progeny. As a result, not much mainstream research has ever been done on it and Healers try and feed you with powerful calming droughts and nerve repairing potions - both of which have no effect on a normal person. I juts pretend to have a fit or two every now and then to keep the Healers from getting suspicious. Thank God I'm a child actor. Piece of cake, I tell you."

"This is just bloody brilliant. How long are you planning to keep up this charade?"

"For as long as I need to although time is running out. The Healers are going to be on to me soon."

"Has anyone ever explored the idea that this affects purebloods because of the inbreeding?"

"On many occasions. But the old families pay a lot of money to suppress any research that points to this direction. Their whole pureblood propaganda and superiority will take a nose dive if it gets out that they need to marry outside their circle of acceptability in order to keep their descendants from going mental."

Leila sat down at the edge of his bed and shook her head. "When do you leave?"

"I don't know. As soon as possible. I'm hoping my mum's memory of her heartbreak over my death keeps her from getting distracted long enough to make the arrangements to smuggle me out."

"It sounds precarious. Do you have a plan B?"

"Yes. Stay and become a Death Eater. If I decide to go that way, I'm going to overpower you right now and take you to the Dark Lord and earn permanent favour with him."

Leila laughed. He arched his eyebrows at her. "You don't think I'll do it?"

"And let yourself be marked by a hideous permanent tattoo? That'll be the end of your aspiring modeling career."

He sighed dramatically. "You know me too well, Potter."

"So all in all, you just very recklessly got me in here. If you're seen with me-"

"I told you, these rooms are heavily warded. You can't enter the room without my consent. Only very few of the Healers who I've been assigned to can. I'm assuming they were created solely for wealthy bastards like me who just bide their time here, pretending to be sick to avoid people trying to avoid goblins they owed money to or law enforcement or in my case, my father's friends. The minute I step out of St Mungo's, either my mum's people get me or he does. The way I see it, I might as well have fun. I've been going mental here by myself. I was reduced to making fun of the wallpaper here but the wall didn't respond and I had a minor breakdown."

"I don't know about Dilibert's Largis but are you sure you haven't contracted some other form of... insanity?"

"I'm getting there. So tell me what you've been up to."

"I've been bonding with the parents. Or not. We disagree a lot."

"So far so good, you're proving to be utterly normal and boring. Unless by disagreeing you mean blasting each other with Unforgivables. In which case, give me details."

"Again, skipping over without comment on your understanding of how normal familial disputes work, we're just getting to know each other. It's good when we aren't chewing each other out."

"Is the godfather backing you up?"

"No. He's the captain of team Dad. It bites. What's the use of having a godfather if they don't back you up in a fight?"

"With all due respect, Potter, your godfather has some serious issues."

"I happen to be captain of team Sirius, so shut up about him."

"He'd love that you're his greatest champion." said Blaise with a smirk.

Leila frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

He arched his eyebrows at her. "Come now Potter, surely you see it?"

"See what?"

He stared at her for a moment then shook his head. "I'm not doing this again. You're clueless to the point where it's not even adorable anymore. Figure this one out on your own."

"When did you ever think I qualified as adorable, Zabini?" she said dryly, also keen on diverting the conversation. She had a feeling that he was hinting at something and with her recent awakening of her own confused feelings towards her godfather, she wanted to stay clear of that landmine.

"That one time, when you almost swallowed the snitch. You were like a dying frog."

"That was adorable?"

"Yes. It made me think of my pet frog from when I was little and he was adorable. Okay, so maybe it was associative and not you necessarily."

They went back and forth and Leila relaxed. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this relaxed or this happy.

_"Actually I do. It was with Blaise, the last time I ever saw him before any of this happened."_

Blaise saw the emotions stirring in her eyes and he paused in the middle of his rant. "Potter, you're not going weep, are you? Because if you do, please don't do it on my robes. This is the only silk one I have here and there's this assistant Healer I'm flirting with, who's got this older woman-looking-for-a-younger-man feel to her and I want her to see her in my splendid, disgustingly rich glory."

Leila sighed. "I wasn't going to weep. I was having a tearless moment. And if the girl's a Healer, chances are she'll be impressed with a little grey cell activity. Tell her that one really clever joke you know, about the centaur and the werewolf."

"Already did. She laughed. And then I ran out of things to say. Hence the silk robe. She'll be here at 5 pm. Another hour to go."

Leila started. "Shit! I'm so dead. They probably have a search party out for me. I've got to run!" She jumped up. Blaise looked disappointed.

"Stay longer..." he said, almost pleading.

"I can't. Besides, I'll just cramp your style." She hugged him tightly and was surprised when he hugged back, just as tightly.

"Will I ever see you again?" he asked her.

"Yeah. As a matter of fact, you will. I'm going to get permission to visit you. If your room is as freakishly protected as you claim, I'd wager it's safe enough for them to allow Leila Potter to go on her own."

"Potter, you cannot tell them you're coming here to see me. The less people know I'm here, the better. And having visitors is a sign that I'm definitely faking my illness."

"Fine, I'll think of something."

She ran all the way down to the Mr Weasley's room. She found all of them there, looking a bit worried. They looked up, relief flooding their faces.

"Leila! Thank Merlin! Where have you been?"

"I was with Healer Smethwyck." she said, hoping they hadn't spoken to Lily. That was over two hours ago. But they just nodded and Leila exhaled. They clearly hadn't gotten around to alerting everyone and were still in the preliminary stages of worrying about it among themselves.

They bid Mr and Mrs Weasley goodbye and headed out.

"Where were you, really?" murmured Hermione.

"Later." whispered Leila, not in the least bit surprised that Hermione had caught on to her lie. She wasn't very good at it at any rate and was surprised everyone else bought it.

Leila dragged Hermione and Ron to her room as soon as they portkeyed back to Grimmauld Place, nodding briefly at Remus, glad that no one else was there. Fred, George and Ginny headed to the kitchen gleefully to indulge in their new favourite amusement - aggravating Kreacher.

"Alright, spill." said Hermione, looking at her in resignation. She was sure she wasn't going to like this.

She didn't.

Neither did Ron.

"I'm starting to think your Dad's right. Why are you latching onto every Death Eater you can find?" asked Ron, looking at her wearily.

"Blaise isn't a Death Eater. Can we all get over this biased notion that every Slytherin is a part of Voldemort's fan club?"

"They are."

"They're not! It's unfair generalization."

"Fine. Name the ones you think are not."

"Er... Blaise Zabini?"

"That's your unsubstantiated opinion. I don't understand this blind spot you have when it comes to Zabini."

"Gut feeling." said Leila firmly. "I know he isn't. He's not the type."

"Anyone's the type in that house."

"The Hat thought I was Slytherin material. Do I look like the type?"

"Point taken." said Hemrione.

"Yes, you might have been if you had ended up there." said Ron at the same time.

"Ron!"

"What? I'm just saying! There's something in the water in there. They're all mental!"

"Now that's an unsubstantiated opinion." said Leila, rolling her eyes.

"Alright, fine, Zabini is your best mate. Great. What do you propose to about it?" asked Ron, leaning back on her bed and stretching out. "There's no way they'll let you, especially after the Snape bomb you've just dropped on them."

"I know how to create portkeys." said Leila, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"And?" asked Ron, narrowing her eyes.

"And it's just us in the house, most of the time. No one will notice if I go missing for a few hours."

"Unless someone comes in. Then we have to cover for you." said Hermione, nodding thoughtfully. Ron was looking at her in disbelief.

"Yes." said Leila, knowing that there was no way they would agree to this that easily.

"No." said Ron.

"You're being biased."

"I'm refusing on grounds of safety. Mungos' security might be great but anyone can still walk in there. You could be attacked."

"A combination of Mungo's wards and Blaise's room's is good enough security-"

"Still a no." said Ron firmly. "Leila, I love you and trust you, but not with this. If they get his mother or he decides to jump ship, you alone there is a gold mine for him."

"You said you trusted my judgement!" said Leila, exasperated.

"We do." protested Hermione.

Ron turned to Hermione and glared at her. "Mione, what's the matter with you? When did you become such a yes-girl? You're the one talks sense into her all the time, not me. This role reversal is disturbing."

"Yeah." agreed Leila, sitting up and looking at her friend in surprise. "It's just Ron and I who've been arguing. I mean, I'm glad you're taking my side but why do I get the feeling you're doing it even if you're more likely to agree with Ron right now?"

"What are you talking about?" spluttered Hermione, looking uncomfortable. "I agree with both of you. I'm just staying neutral because -"

"Because?" prodded Ron.

Hermione swallowed hard and looked away. Leila was struck with a thought.

"Herm? What do you really think?" asked Leila softly. "Tell me. You know I want to know, even if I may not agree."

"It doesn't matter-"

"Yes it does. Your opinion has always mattered, even more so than Ron and mine. You're the smart one, the centre of sanity among the three of us." Leila said, gently.

Ron was also staring at her, slow comprehension drawing in his face. "Mione? Is this-Does this have something to do with the other reality?"

Hermione's eyes filled with tears at his words. "I-I don't want you to hate me."

"What?" asked Ron, dazed. He looked at Leila in shock.

"I don't think we're following, Herm." said Leila softly.

Hermione brushed her tears away and looked imploringly at her. "You, Ron and Ginny were dead in that reality, as were Fred and George. That's all my friends in this reality."

"Okay..." said Ron, still not comprehending.

"Ron, you and Leila didn't like me in first year. If I hadn't overheard you that Charms class, I wouldn't have stayed in the loo and you wouldn't have rescued me from the troll and we wouldn't have become friends."

"Okay, so you became friends with a less crazy crowd..." said Ron, still confused.

"Ron, everyone hated me just as much. They started talking to me only when the two of you did. And without the two of you, I become worse, isolated and lonely. Don't you get it? I never had friends."

She turned away, her eyes glistening. "Everyone hated me. I was always alone. And then, Mum and Dad were murdered in third year and ... I stayed back during summer too. It was safer. I was always alone. I had no friends. I didn't even know what having friends felt like. I was so miserable."

Leila slid next to her and hugged her tight. Ron just stared at her in shock. "Their loss, Herm." said Leila softly. Hermione leaned against her and cried softly. Ron opened his mouth and closed it.

Then he just blurted out, "But why? You're ruddy awesome! And you're so good with classwork! Don't they realize how great it is to be friends with someone who actually knows whats going on in class? And never having to read because we could just ask you? And thank Morgana you raise your hands in class otherwise the Professors will start _picking_ people to answer!"

"Wow. That's deep, Ron." said Leila sarcastically. But his words had the desired effect on Hermione. She started laughing and pulled him into a chokehold hug.

"Weasley, Potter, I don't ever want to be in a world without the two of you. It's a miserable world. And in light of that, Leila, if you put yourself in danger by going to Zabini's room, I will tell your parents and insist they ground you for life."

Leila snorted with laughter. "Thank you, Granger. Now that's what I want to hear - your real opinion. Make it bossy and authoritative and fight viciously with me when I disagree, as I do in this case. That's the Hermione we know and love. And the other world can suck it. I'm glad I don't have to share you with any other group of alternate friends."

Though the discussion came to an end with that, Ron and Hermione worried about her. Leila did not give up on people she let into her life. Her resignation was fooling no one. She'd go see Zabini, with or without their help.

They both watched her like a hawk but to their surprise she didn't try anything. She busied herself with her training, now having five eager co-participants who wanted to learn as well. Fred and George had been officially granted permission to be part of the Order once they turned eighteen in April.

"Technically, we're adults now and we can join." said Fred irritably. "But they threw us with some confused logic about how if it were a school year, we'd be in school and school attendees aren't allowed. It's utter tripe. We know that Diggory joined the Order a little after he turned seventeen."

"And knowing us, we'd have probably given seventh year a skip anyway. NEWTS are of no use to us." added George.

Their fledgling training sessions were suspended even before they started, however, because Sirius suddenly got into the Yule spirit. He was determined to make this a spectacular Christmas, making up for an abysmal year of everyone being locked up in their respective houses. So he descended on them with an almost Molly Weasley-like fervour, insisting the entire house be cleaned and decorated.

"Why not just the ground floor?" Ginny had asked him, trying to inject sense. "That's where we all will be, won't we?"

She'd paid for it by being told that she was in charge of handling the corridor at the entrance with the portraits including Sirius's mum.

"I told you not to argue with him when he's in this mood." Leila said, patting her back sympathetically later that night.

Leila came down the next day and found an envelope addressed to her. Remus, who was the only one there, said, "Dumbledore left it for you. I think it's from Snape."

She looked up at him but his expression was carefully neutral. Remus, like Lily, was keen to bring the peace back and was keeping his opinions about Snape to himself, preferring not to talk about it at all.

Leila opened the envelope and found a letter and a penny.

_The penny serves as a portkey into my house at Cokeworth. _

_It activates at 10 am. _

_-S. Snape_

Leila pocketed the penny and folded the note, wearing a thoughtful expression. Remus looked like he was struggling with himself not to ask questions. Leila felt sorry for him and decided if he and Lily were being trying to be decent about this for her sake, she shouldn't make it harder for them.

She sat across the table from him and smiled gently.

"I will be at Snape's house from 10 am. I'll be back for late lunch and the day goes on as usual. His house is in Cokeworth. Dumbledore will know where it is. If it's an emergency, you can find me there."

Remus nodded. Then hesitantly, he said, "If you want to go, I won't stop you. But know that I'm very uncomfortable with this."

"I know."

**A/N: Thanks for the wonderful reviews everybody! It was a delight to read them and warmed my heart! **


	27. Chapter 27

She landed not so gracefully and fell face first onto an old, plum carpet. A pair of black shoes was at her eye level. She looked up and found Severus Snape looking down at her with derision.

She scrambled to her feet and looked around. It was an old house but well kept. There was a roaring fire in the fireplace, the mantelpiece had a few odd brass figurines and the walls had beautiful landscape paintings.

The furniture was threadbare, with dark green upholstery, fraying at the edges. It looked comfortable. The other side had a small square, wooden dining table that could seat three to four people. The coffee table next to her had a single ship in a bottle.

The walls were lined with bookcases, filled with heavy leather, bound books.

"If you're done with your visual tour of my house..." said Snape, a bit impatiently.

"It's a lovely place, sir."

Snape stared at her for a brief second and seemed to realize she was being sincere. He pursed his lips then turned away and strode to one of the bookshelves. He pulled out a specific book and the entire bookcase swung open. There was another room inside.

Leila stepped in after him, amazed. The bookcase closed behind her. The room was small bare one and a smaller staircase led upstairs. She followed Snape up till they reached a circular, empty room. The walls had shelves which were lined with vials of coloured liquid. A single cauldron was pushed against the wall, making room at the centre. A small work desk was on the other side, cluttered with parchment and ink bottles.

_"This must be his home office."_

Snape was observing her. She had improved physically. She looked stronger, slightly better fed and more put together than the last time he saw her. Grimmauld Place had been keeping her too busy to slip back into mourning or depression and it was visible in the clarity in her eyes and that she had a ready smile on her lips. He was surprised to find how relieved he was to find her in better spirits. It was almost as if he cared.

_"You do care."_ a quieter voice chided him. _"And not just because she's Lily's daughter. She's the only one who understands you. And she fought her parents and her godfather and the werewolf in your defense, without giving up your deepest, darkest secret. Nobody has ever done something like that for you."_

When Dumbledore had told him what had happened, he had scarcely been able to believe it. He was rather impressed that having her parents back had done nothing to tarnish the girl's independent spirit. The very thing he had despised, he now grew to respect.

"I've been reading." she said suddenly, cutting off his train of thought.

"Have you now?"

"It's a lot of Regulus Black's old stuff. He has interesting literary leanings."

Snape nodded. "I knew Regulus. We were friends. He was an affable, quiet boy. Quite a talented Seeker and intelligent too. He was very polite and had none of that gregarious, loutish quality that defines his brother."

Leila frowned slightly at Snape's insult directed at Sirius. But she let it slide. If there was anything she had learnt from her ongoing fight with James and Sirius, getting involved in mediating this mudslinging contest would only leave her caked in dirt so she shut up and chose to pretend not to hear it.

"What happened to him? He was a Death Eater, wasn't he? Why was he killed off?"

Snape frowned, deep in thought. "I have no idea. He vanished one day and no one seemed to know where he'd disappeared off to. We'd all assumed that the Dark Lord disposed of him. Or someone in the inner circle might have done it. We weren't allowed to discuss things like this. For all I know, he could be alive."

Leila shook her head. Regulus was dead. Of that she was sure of. She felt in the air in her room, formless, omnipresent. It was a dead man lingering.

"There's more to that story..." mused Leila out loud. "The pieces don't add up."

Snape cocked his head to the side and looked at her. "Potter, you'll be surprised just how many people vanished off the face of the earth after meeting the Dark Lord. Don't torture yourself with the mystery of Regulus Black. I can personally attest that most of these people were killed off, often for trivial reasons. My best guess would be that he displeased the Dark Lord. Regulus was too soft a person for Death Eater activities. I remember him being very gentle. I never understood why he signed up. Sirius Black was a more likely candidate and if he had followed the path his family set for him at birth, I have no doubt he'd have given his cousin Bellatrix a run for her money. But not Regulus. He was never made for it."

"Poor Regulus." murmured Leila, feeling sad. It reminded her of Blaise, trapped in a web of people who they couldn't relate to, stumbling along a path set for them by misguided parents, pushed to do things they couldn't stomach.

She shook her head, trying to clear the melancholy thoughts. She nodded at Snape, signalling that she was ready to start.

It was a grueling. As she had suspected, her game was not at its best and Snape broke into her mind easily. She had recovered by the end of the session, having blocked him off more or less. But there was still plenty of work to do.

Snape led her back down and got her some tea. She was in no hurry to head back to Grimmauld Place. She liked Spinner's End. It had a comforting, muggle feel to it. She stared outside at the foggy landscape from the window. It looked like an old, derelict, industrial town.

Snape placed her teacup on the table and sat down with his own. As usual, they drank in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

"How is she?" asked Snape suddenly, looking like he couldn't help himself any longer.

"She's okay. It's a tough job being a Healer now. But she's good at it. I get along with her. She's easy to be with."

Snape smiled slightly at that. "She was always good with people so it shouldn't be surprising that she's understood her daughter in a short span of time."

"She gets that I'm not a toddler anymore and as difficult as it is for her, she lets me do my thing. She's really smart. She's... She's nothing like her sister."

Snape narrowed his eyes. "Petunia was always a petulant child and she's grown up to be a miserable adult. Your mother was the favourite and she never made peace with it, never once thought that the problem was that she was unpleasant as a result of which people gravitated towards Lily."

"How could two people having the same genes be so different?"

"How indeed."

Leila portkeyed back by 2 pm. She found Lily and James there, looking stressed.

"Where have you been for four hours?" demanded James.

Leila sighed. "You know where I've been."

"Is he meeting you at Hogwarts?"

"No. I was at his house in Cokeworth."

"_His house_? This is fucking unacceptable-"

"Cokeworth?" Lily interrupted. She looked taken aback. "He's staying at his parent's house? He hated it there."

Leila stared at her. Lily went red. "We were friends back when we were children."

"I know."

Lily stared at her now. "You do?"

"Yeah. He told me. His house is the one at Spinner's End?" Leila affirmed. "It's rather nice. I was quite surprised."

"His father was a muggle."

Leila nodded. "I know. He served in the British army in World War Two against the Axis powers' campaign in North Africa."

Lily looked stunned. "I-I didn't know that. He never spoke about his father-" she broke off, looking disconcerted.

James looked enraged.

"If both of you are done exchanging notes on _Severus_," he spat, "can we please get back to what you were doing alone with him, in his house, for four hours?"

"We were plotting to take over the world and start our own dark order." Leila said sarcastically. "I told you, Occlumency lessons. And I told Remus this morning where I'd be so it isn't like I went AWOL."

"I don't care if you told Remus. You should've told _me_." said James angrily.

"Maybe you need to be around for that. Or even better, have a conversation with me. You've been ignoring me for a week now."

"I have every right to be angry with you."

"I'm not saying that you don't. But if you're going to bite my head off, you can't be shocked I don't come and kiss you goodbye when I leave the house."

James stared at her. "You never kiss me good bye." he muttered, grumpily.

"Neither do you." said Leila coolly. Lily looked between the two of them and seemed to decide she should leave them alone. She quietly exited.

James uncrossed his arms then slowly caught Leila's shoulders and pulled her to him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her, softly kissing her forehead. "That's for this morning, before I left for work."

Leila smiled into his shoulder. She leaned up and kissed his cheek gently. "And that's for this morning, before I left for Cokeworth."

"This doesn't mean you're off the hook." James murmured, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"I know."

"Can we please find another way-"

"Do you know Occlumency?"

"No."

"Do you know anybody else who knows Occlumency?"

"Dumbledore."

"Someone who doesn't have more pressing issues to contend with?"

"You are of utmost importance-"

"To you, maybe. The entire wizarding world is far more pressing."

"No, it isn't."

"I love you."

James pulled back and stared at her in amazement. "I think that's the first time you've said that."

"I'm pretty sure I've said it before."

"No, you haven't."

"Oh. Well, then, I love you."

"I love you too. And I'm still angry with you."

"You and everybody else. Where is Sirius?"

"I think he's upstairs. I have to head back to work. He has the afternoon off to do some Order work that he's busy not doing. Try the 'I love you' tactic with him as well and see if you can get him back in a good enough mood to get back to work. We're overwhelmed with paperwork at the Ministry."

Leila slowly made her way up to the fourth floor and went to Orion and Walburga Black's room. Although it was now Sirius's room, she still thought of it as his parents' room. She knocked on the door and waited for a response.

"James, sod off. I said I'll get to it by the end of the day." he called in exasperation.

"It's me, Leila."

"Fuck off. I have no interest in talking to you, traitor."

Leila scowled and opened the door. He was sitting there on the largest bed she had ever seen, shuffling through a thick wad of parchment.

"I didn't say come in." he said darkly.

Leila glowered back at him. "You come traipsing into my room when you please, without knocking. Consider this payback."

"What do you want?"

"To tell you to stop being a prick."

"Again, fuck off."

"I also came to apologise about the Snape thing."

"Are you going to stop going to him?"

"No."

"Then your apology means nothing."

"Are you really going to cut me off for the rest of your life over this?"

"Damn straight. I'm kicking you out of here the minute you turn seventeen for being a disgraceful turncoat."

"Whatever you say, Walburga." she muttered under her breath, turning to walk away.

"_What did you say_?" he said furiously, dropping the parchment bundle.

Leila ran out of the room, towards the safety of her own. She could hear him behind her.

She reached her room and slammed the door shut and threw her weight behind the door, hastily reaching for her wand to lock it.

"Open the door, Potter!" he bellowed, slamming his fists against the door.

Leila locked it and threw herself on the bed, and winced as Sirius yelled at her through the door.

"I hope your father was more like you, Regulus, because between this idiot and your mother, there couldn't have been much peace in the house." she said quietly, shaking her head.

Leila could swear that a soft laughter sounded in her ears, so quiet that it was was like a soft wind chime in a stormy night.

She had to wait till Sirius left the house. She had no doubt he would've broken her door down but he had work. Just to be safe, Leila stayed in her room for another half an hour before getting out. She went down to Hermione and Ginny's room.

"Why was Sirius screaming bloody murder?" asked Ginny with a grin.

"I may have insinuated that he's like his mother."

"Leila!"

"She's got a point." said Ginny, rubbing her fingers in a circular motion against her temple. "I've been working on that corridor, trying to fairy lights there and I've been getting yelled at by Mrs Black all morning."

Leila sighed and got up. "Well, I'm going to give the basement a go. Should we meet at around 4 to get started on the tree?"

She made her way down alone to the tucked away room behind the kitchen and located the door leading to the basement. It was a thick, iron one. She hesitantly pried the heavy metal door opened, bracing herself for an explosion or even a dragon. Things in the Black house tended to jump out at her from perfectly ordinary looking doors so a heavily fortified, metal one spelled disaster. She wondered if she should ask the twins for help but she didn't want to risk them losing a limb, especially when their father was still in recovery. She didn't think Mrs Weasley could take the stress. So she left the Weasleys and Ginny to deal with the third floor and came down alone to the extended room beyond the kitchen where the basement door was.

She cautiously poked her head in. It was pitch black. She peered further, praying that nothing would bite her face off in the dark.

The air smelled musty and damp. She opened the door fully, convinced nothing would come out rushing at her and tear through the house, rampaging and destroying.

"Lumous." she said, pointing her wand into the darkness. It picked up nothing. It looked like empty space. She stepped in and took one tentative step after another. It was a good thing she was going slowly because the floor dropped off suddenly, into a vast empty space below. Leila pointed her wand down but the light didn't help at all. Frowning, she decided to try one of the new spells she'd read about.

"Lucidium."

The range of the light improved tenfold as did the luminosity.

Leila peered over the edge and almost dropped her wand in shock. Down in the darkness, was a great big lake.

As her eyes adjusted to the sight, she observed it. It wasn't still. The surface rippled with small waves. She pointed the wand around and realized that the lake was walled in on three sides but opened out into a channel on the fourth and the current seemed to flowing inward. The walls had water marks, recent ones, indicating that the lake's level varied.

_"The incoming stream is tidal! It's connected to the Thames!" _she realized in fascination._ "This must belong to the old London waterway system! Incredible." _

Leila sat at the edge, her legs over the ledge, fascinated. She wondered what the Blacks used the waterway for.

_"It's probably an emergency escape route. They seem paranoid enough to consider the fact that their impenetrable wards may not hold up. Or maybe, they were smuggling. Some of the stuff in house looks too evil to even be bought off open market places like Knockturn Alley."_

She pondered the many uses and wondered where the stream led out. A surge of excitement went through her. She wanted to know where it led. She pointed her wand around to see if there was a boat or raft tethered below. There was none. She's have to figure out a way to explore this later.

But for now, she would have to abandon it because there was less than a week before Christmas and she wanted to put all her muscle into getting the house looking like a disgusting candy store exploding with celebratory decorations because Sirius insisted on it and right now, the topmost on her priority list was keeping Sirius from getting any angrier lest he throw her out right away.

_S_he went up, locking the door behind her, promising herself she'd come back.

A hectic week later, where Leila spent the mornings at Snape's and the rest of her with the Weasleys and Hermione cleaning and covering every surface they could find with holly, silver and gold streamers and fairy lights, Leila barely had time to think about anything else.

Leila was astonished at how cheesy and festive the place looked. Sirius had been pleased. Now he was running up and down the house hollering the lyrics to 'God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs' off key and on the top of his lungs. It made Leila want to portkey back to Snape's and sit in the silence of Spinner's End.

On Christmas Eve, Leila was restless in the morning. Snape had given her two days off and everyone was still working on their presents. Leila had already done hers and she felt like doing something else.

Lily came rushing down, looking hassled.

"What's wrong?" asked Leila.

"I'm going to be at Mungo's for the next couple of hours. I have some more work to do and I'm helping Arthur back to Grimmauld Place. The Order is spending Christmas here."

"Do you need anything to be done around here?"

"No." said Lily firmly. "Molly, Alice and I are in charge of Christmas Lunch and dinner tonight. You do it everyday. I don't want you near there in the holidays."

Leila laughed. "Alright. But is there anything else you'd like me to do? I'm bored."

"Would you like to come with me? Mungo's is lovely during Christmas. Security is beefed up and you can take a look around."

Leila's eyes lit. "That'd be great. I'll just loiter about and soak up all the er... aspiring Healer energy there." _"And go see Blaise."_

"Sure, sure." said Lily distractedly, throwing on her robe. "But not one step outside Mungo's! I'm only allowing this because the wards are fantastic and because I'll be there. And you have to stay in the top four floors because those are restricted to the public and anyone, patients or Healers in there have been screened by security."

Leila smiled, high fiving herself in her mind. Blaise's room was on the topmost floor. She wouldn't even be breaking rules.

Lily sped off towards her office, saying something about patient rounds. Leila gleefully slipped away and went to the top floor. She stepped up to the door and knocked.

"Who is it?" he sounded tense.

"Leila."

He threw the door open, looking surprised.

"You came!"

"I told you I would. Merry Christmas!"

She entered the room and smiled at him. He grinned back and shut the door behind him.

"How long do you have?"

"A few hours. More than enough to listen to you whine about how the service in this place is awful, no doubt."

"Don't even get me started."

"How did the session with the assistant Healer go?"

"Quite well. Till she said how she was sorry that such a lovely young man like me contracted a terrible illness like Dilibert's Largis."

"That's what you get for lying about your medical condition."

"Oh well, I'll take the downsides of a fake malady over being too dead to be ill at all."

"Any word from your mother?"

"Yes. I'm running for it on Boxing Day."

Leila stared at him. "That soon?"

"Potter, I've been here for months."

"Yes, but things are bad out there. They attacked the Battersea Bridge the other day! They're getting pretty aggressive and not really worried about staying low key anymore."

"All the more reason I should leave. If they successfully attack Mungo's, I'll be too panicked to get out in the ensuing confusion."

"No you won't. Stop being self pitying. I'm in far too good a mood to indulge that crap."

"You have no sympathy for the sick, you heartless fiend."

They both sat on his bed and cheerfully ribbed each other and traded notes on everybody they knew.

"Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott and Avery have gone over to the dark side, obviously. They were giggling like a bunch of fan girls about how they caught sight of the Dark Lord in the Malfoy Manor. I'm surprised they didn't ask You-Know-Who to sign their man boobs."

"Big surprise."

"Daphne Greengrass got signed off into a marriage contract with Rabastan Lestrange."

"_What? _Is that even_ legal?"_

_"_In the strange world that us crazy purebloods inhabit, yes. The Dark Lord ordered it. Apparently, he considered it a waste that a pureblood of high breeding like Lestrange should go childless. Since all the women his age are taken and Mr Greengrass pissed the Dark Lord off with... I don't know what. Could've gotten him the wrong tea flavour for all I know, and Daph got stuck with that psycho."

Leila felt a bit sick. "That's just so wrong."

"Needless to say, all the lovely young women women who were clamouring for the Dark Mark are now starting to back away from the Dark Lord bandwagon. I think they're worried that You Know Who might start asking one of them to be impregnated by his snake."

"His snake's a she."

"It's a _snake_. I'm making a point here. Don't get technical with me."

The mood was sullied today and didn't have quiet the sharp, witty air that generally both of them generated usually. Blaise was trying not to think about his upcoming badly planned and likely to be poorly executed escape in two days. Leila was too traumatized at the thought of her classmates being used as breeding machines to make jokes about anything.

"Potter? If I die, will you tell my mum whenever you see her that I said 'I told you so'?"

"Shut up, Zabini. You'll be fine."

The stayed silent. Then Leila, unable to stop herself, said, "Come with me. The Order will protect you. You'll be safe. Don't do this."

"I can't. If I go with you, my treachery will become more than just about me. They'll hunt my mother down. Right now, they think I'm being a whiny brat and they just want to get at me and talk me into going over to their side. If I side with you and Dumbledore, they'll wipe my family out, slowly, painfully. I can't do that to them."

"The Order might be able to protect them-"

"My father will be the first to sell me out and my mother may detest the Death Eaters, but she will have nothing to do with a bunch of what she calls 'lowly, rag-tag blood traitors and mudbloods'. This is the only way."

"It doesn't look good for you, you do know that right?"

"I know. But I'm taking a leaf out of your book and going with dumb heroics. You're a lousy influence on me."

"In that case, my work here is done, pretty boy."

"You don't think they'll hit me on my face when they rough house me, do you?"

Leila and Blaise now both looked pained, their voices struggling to stay nonchalant.

"And destroy that work of art? Even the Death Eaters aren't immune to aesthetics, Zabini."

"True that. Maybe they'll take me away and offer me the job of being the poster boy for their movement. I'd make a far more convincing symbol than that creepy skull snake. The girls will just queue up."

"And be sold off to all the sperm donours."

Blaise turned away at her cold words. "You know I'd never - I'm not one of them, Potter. I never have been."

"I know. I adore you for that."

He smiled wanly and reached out and lightly ran his fingertips down the side of her cheek. "I know you do. You let me kiss you."

"I've never regretted it."

They stared at each other, their hearts heavy. For the first time, the fact that they weren't in Hogwarts anymore made itself clear to both of them. They were children no more, making tough decisions, trying to protect people they cared about.

Their shared pain and despair, both of them knowing they'd probably never survive this, filed away at their carefully constructed barriers. Seconds turned into minutes. They were entwined in his bed, kissing desperately.

"Leila..." he whispered into her mouth, his hands fisting in her sweater. She closed her eyes and kissed him back urgently.

His lips, his hands didn't make him forget everything like she thought it would. It made her remember everything. It made her think of the Great Lake, the pine forests, the lavender by the banks where she and Cedric had spent hours in each other's arms.

It reminded her of the smell of the library, of hiding in the back laughing with Blaise. It made her think of the mowed grass at the Quidditch pitch, of the screaming crowds, of Oliver, Fred, George, Angeline, Alicia and Katie laughing and whooping as they won another match.

It reminded her of ink bottles, of classrooms, of Ron and Hermione and her teachers and Hagrid at the back of his house, roaring with laughter as Fang chased his own tail.

His touch, his scent, the way he held her, desperately, pleadingly, achingly made her think of the small interval of four years where life had allowed sunshine in, where they were young and dumb and how everything was gone too soon. Death and destruction pushed at the fringes of their conscience and neither Leila nor Blaise wanted to acknowledge that.

He tasted like innocence and freedom and she ached for it.

_"One last time... I want that one last time..." _she thought, fighting tears.

He hesitantly slid his hand under her sweater and pulled it up. She sat up and pulled it away, taking her shirt off as well. Blaise was working on her jeans buttons, tugging. They disappeared as well. She fell back on her bed as Blaise took off his robes, leaving just his boxers on. He came back to her arms and they kissed, slower this time, marvelling at the way their bodies touched. Blaise stared down at her, he swallowing hard. She went a bit red as well and muttered. "Right, Zabini, I've never done this so keep your wise ass remarks to yourself."

He gave her a grin. "Neither have I."

"Seriously? Wow... deja vu."

"I don't know why you think I get around that much. Honestly, Potter. You're my first, _again_." He kissed her neck and trailed all the way down to the valley between her breasts, his hands moving down her sides.

He looked anxiously at her bra, his hands pausing at the strap on her shoulders, hesitating. Leila bit her lip to keep herself from laughing.

"Potter, your words right back at you. Don't laugh at me."

Leila grinned and nodded. "You look so cute when you're puzzled. I think I'll let you figure this-Oh!"

He cupped her breasts and was squeezing them lightly, his thumb brushing over her nipple.

"Take it off, please?" he whispered in her ear.

Leila reached behind her, her heart hammering, and unhooked it. He pushed her straps down slowly, kissing her shoulders, and pulled it off completely. Leila had to fight the urge to cover herself. Blaise's eyes were wide as saucers as he took her in.

"Okay, the staring is making me self conscious." said Leila, clenching the sheets to prevent her from moving her hands up.

Blaise gently ran his hand over her breasts, his fingers lightly brushing over the curves, tracing her areola and whispered, "Leila... They're... Wow..." She had never seem him speechless, ever.

It broke the tension in the room and Leila started laughing. He grinned too and they kissed, still laughing.

Her hand made its way own to his boxers just as his went down to her knickers. Their hands clashed and they both attempted to manoeuvre around each other and failed. Blaise laughed again and held up his hand in mock surrender. "Right, then. Ladies first."

She bit her lip and slowly pulled it down, her eyes widening at the sight of his enlarged manhood. Blaise kicked it off and stopped dead when he found her staring at it intently, her eyes a bit wide and panicky.

"Potter?" he said a bit anxiously.

"Erm... that looks big?"

Blaise grinned broadly. "Why thank you, milady!"

"Shut up, Zabini! How is that going to go in?" she asked trying to curb her panic. She felt a bit pathetic, that she could face Voldemort but freak out at the first ever penis she laid her eyes on.

"Er.. don't you stretch to accommodate it?" asked Blaise, looking unsure himself.

Leila just shook her head and forced herself to stop worrying. She quickly took off her own knickers and tossed them aside, trying not to react to the way Balise's eyes popped at the sight.

"Seriously, don't stare." she said a bit testily.

"You were staring at me a few moments ago. Didn't see me have a hissy fit, did you?" he admonished, smirking a bit at her discomfort.

He bent down and kissed her, pressing his whole body against hers. She relaxed at the sensation, and hummed at the way his warm hardness pressed against her hip.

_"This isn't so bad."_ she thought dreamily, gently tracing the contours of his back while his own hands roved her body, a bit haphazardly, trying to feel everything at once.

Soon they were whimpering softy and Blaise positioned himself at her entrance.

"I thought you wanted me on top?" Leila asked, quirking her eyebrows.

"I told you, I'm a traditionalist." he said, smiling. His smile faded. "It'll hurt..."

"Hello? Cruciatus Curse veteran here. I think I can take a little bit of pain from hymen rupture without going into paralytic shock." she said, trying to sound braver than she felt.

He nodded, looking relieved. He slowly started to push his way in, his hands stroking her stomach. Leila started at the motion.

"Shit, wait!" Blaise pulled back in alarm. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Leila reached for her wand and pointed it at her abdomen and murmured, "Ovum Obstructae." She tossed her wand aside and fell back again.

"Right. Go."

Blaise was looking at her with an amused expression. "My, my, Potter. Prepared for action without consequence, are we?"

"If you want a kid in the midst of all this madness, Zabini, let me make it clear that your cross-Atlantic voyage will have an add-on passenger. My life is too stressful already so it'll be all yours. Good luck with the single parenting."

Blaise laughed and crawled up to her side, his expression unusually gentle. He lay on his side, his hand cupping her breasts and kissing her when she turned her head to him.

"Why the pause?"

"When we kissed, your heart belonged to Diggory. I'm just wondering who it belongs to now."

"Are you trying to be principled?"

"Not a chance. I'm living every guy's dream of sex with a beautiful girl, no strings attached. But I'm bringing it up so you know for sure what you're doing. Who is your heart with when you're here with me?" he asked softly, his hand sloping down and slipping his finger into her wet warmth. Leila whimpered at the sensation, arching her back lightly, Blaise's eyes widened at her reaction and he moved on top, watching, fascinated.

"So that does work..." he muttered with the wide eyed wonder of a child discovering his toy had an additional feature, as he added another finger inside her and pushing it in slowly.

"No one." she said, her words mingling with a moan. But even as she said that, grey eyes, heated and boring into hers, flashed across her mind.

Leila flinched. _"What the fuck, Potter?"_ Lying in Blaise's bed, his fingers buried inside her and the other softly tugging at her nipple, the last thing she wanted swimming in her mind was Sirius, and yet she couldn't stop herself. And the guilt and shame was overwhelming. She knew, without a doubt, that if Sirius knew what she was doing right now, he'd tear down London in his fury.

_"What is the matter with me? Why do I care? I don't judge him for all the women her sleeps around with."_

And automatically, she thought of his calloused hands stroking a naked woman's body, _her_ body, setting fire to her skin the way he always did when he touched her.

"Leila?" Blaise whispered softly, his face intent, breaking her out of her daze and dousing her with the cold reality of where she was, really and what she was thinking about.

She opened her eyes and stared at him, conflicted and suddenly terrified of what her mind had conjured a few seconds ago. Her panic far surpassing her desire, she said hoarsely, "No one. My heart's here, right here."

She pulled him down to her and they kissed ferociously, Blaise wanting to feel the warmth of the girl, the only person aside from his mother he was fond of, before his impending permanent disappearance and Leila wanting to shut down her treacherous brain, trying to pour bleach over the frightening thoughts that now lingered, persistent.

He pushed into her and Leila held in her hiss of pain. It really wasn't that bad but it was extremely uncomfortable. She shut her eyes and Blaise gently pushed all the way in, his own face tight with concentration. They stilled, Blaise struggling with his instincts, reminding himself to hold it in. Leila had far from adjusted but she saw his struggle and gentle tugged at his arms on either side of her, her eyes soft and encouraging. He began to move, and his tentative rhythm gave way to haphazard, hard strokes, making Leila wince a bit.

It was awkward and as far as Leila could tell, not all that pleasurable. It was uncomfortable at best. Blaise had come though. His weight had collapsed on top of hers and he gasped, "I know that was shit for you, but bloody hell, that beats all the wank sessions I've ever had!"

"I'm flattered." she had told him dryly as he pulled out of her and huddled to her side, his eyes already closing.

"Sorry Potter, it apparently gets better for the girl only from the second time. I'll take care of you when I wake up." he mumbled.

He fell asleep next to her, his face tucked into her shoulder, his arms tight around her, like a child. Leila stroked his hair gently, pulling the covers up tighter around both of them. She smiled slightly as her mind drifted past what had transpired.

She knew the first time was supposed to be horrid anyway and if had it be someone, she was glad it was Blaise. He took away the inherent awkwardness of it all.

Her eyes snapped open suddenly as she heard footsteps outside. That's when it hit her that she had had sex in a hospital room which anybody could walk into. She jumped up, shoving Blaise awake. He looked confused for a second before he heard the nearing footsteps as well.

"Healer!" he croaked in horror, looking around him wildly.

Leila thought fast and tossed him his robes. She grabbed his cloak and threw it on, fastening every button hastily, extremely glad that everything Blaise owned was ostentatious. The thick fur-lined monstrosity did a splendid job of hiding the fact that she was naked under it. Blaise had thrown his robes on as well and dived under the covers. Leila kicked all her clothes and his underwear under his bed, praying no one would notice it.

Leila flew back against the wall, attempting to look like she was leaning casually against it, just as the door opened.

A middle aged man, wearing spectacles and Healer robes, looked and smiled. His eyes widened at the sight of Leila.

"You have company, Mr Zabini?" he asked, stunned.

"Healer Dorion!" exclaimed Blaise, his voice higher than usual. "This is my friend. She's halfblood, so no worries there. She's very brave to visit me. We were... talking. Yes, talking. About the weather. And-and school! We went to school together!"

Leila wished she was close enough to hit him and make him stop talking. Blaise was usually a smooth talker and liar but he was clearly thrown for a loop right now.

"That's wonderful!" exclaimed Healer Dorion. He turned to Leila and said brightly, "The poor boy has been so alone! His condition is rather terrible and it keeps a lot of people away! How very brave of you! Mr Zabini is a lucky young man!"

Leila cleared her throat and said, "Of course, sir. As Blaise pointed out, I'm half blood so I'm less at risk."

The Healer frowned a bit. "Ah unfortunately, we don't know how it is transmitted, if at all. So I'd still be careful if I were you. Do avoid physical contact! I hope you haven't shaken his hand!"

Leila and Blaise looked at each for the briefest second before looking away, trying to hold down a bout of hysterical laughter and panic at the possibility that the Healer was on to them and messing with them.

"No sir!" said Leila, her voice also a bit higher now. "Just here against the wall and looking, I mean talking-"

"Is it time for my potion?" Blaise cut her off quickly.

Healer Dorion nodded and went up to him. He put on a pair of shimmering gloves and pulled out two corked vials from inside his robes and handed it to him. Leila supposed they were to prevent his hand from making contact's with Blaise's. He waited patiently while Blaise hastily swallowed the fluids with large gulps, making Leila worry that he was going to choke on it.

The Healer took the empty vials from him and said gently, "I would like to schedule a complete examination and see if you're faring better, after Christmas. It'll be painful and I wouldn't want to put you through assessment spells during the holidays. Is that alright, Mr Zabini?"

"Of course." said Balise politely.

Helaer Dorion nodded and smiled again at him. "Happy Holidays, Mr Zabini. I won't be in tomorrow but assistant Healer McKay will be here to administer your potions."

He nodded at Leila and said brightly. "You too, Miss-?"

"Denver. Anna Denver." she said, anticipating the question and picking a name of a former classmate from primary school. Blaise's escape would only be made more difficult if it got out that Leila Potter had been visiting him.

Healer Dorion left, shutting the door behind him. Leila and Blaise exhaled slowly and Leila started laughing.

Blaise shook his head at her. "I'm glad you think that's funny. That was singularly the most stressful two minutes of my life." He held out his hand and she took it and let herself be pulled back into his arms.

"No more scheduled Healer visits for the day?"

"Nope. No one ever pops up suddenly. Although I wouldn't be complaining if the assistant Healer I was hitting on does show. How do you feel about a threesome, Potter?" he said cheekily, unbuttoning the cloak and slipping it off her, his hands squeezing her bottom as he pulled her to him.

Leila kissed him and said, "I think losing my virginity has been adventure enough for one day, Zabini."

They wound up in bed his bed again and although, as Blaise had promised, it was better this this time around. Although Leila was still a bit sore, and still awkward, she could share in his pleasure as he caressed and kissed her, moving inside her, slower this time, allowing her to feel him and revel in the sensation of having him fill her up.

Close to an hour later, after silently letting herself be held by Blaise who stayed awake this time, she decided that although she still had more time to go, she better avert suspicion by showing up at Lily's office ahead of time and possibly with a cup of coffee in hand. Her mother might find it hard to believe Leila managed to be completely amused just walking around for hours and showing no signs of having visited the cafeteria either. She sat up and started putting on her clothes.

Blaise watched her, sorrow creeping into his eyes.

"I won't see you after this, will?" he asked softly.

"No, I don't think so. Only after the war is over. I'll come to the US and look for you."

"And once you find me, let's go to California. We'll get a vineyard and visit Los Angeles and make fun of all the people walking about there."

"You'll be one of them, pretty boy. You're going to make me be the person who holds the mirror when you want to preen."

"You bet. And I might concede to your pestering and spend some time in muggle Los Angeles. Muggle woman wear outrageous clothes... I can't wait to see them."

Leila laughed, pushing her hair back, fully clothed. "Do try and grow a personality, Zabini. I'm not sure the silk robes will work there."

"Got you, didn't I? I wasn't even wearing the silk ones today."

Leila blushed but her grin stayed. "Yes well, I'm as shallow as you are. How could I not shag something with a face that beautiful?"

"See? I rest my case. Who needs a personality?"

"I hope that vineyard you're talking about has a massive house. You'll need the space to accommodate you and your ego."

Blaise had gotten up and pulled on his robes as well. His face had relaxed as they bantered. He held her hand and raised it to his lips.

"I'll be waiting. Don't make me come back here for your funeral, Potter. That might actually make me tear up." he said, kissing her knuckles.

She leaned in and kissed him gently.

"I've missed you terribly and will continue to miss you. Get out of here in one piece and keep an eye out for me. I'll show up one day and you'll owe me a Californian dream."

"Coming right up." he whispered against her lips, his heart clenching, fighting down his desperate need to confide in her just how bad things were for him, hating himself for making an empty promise to her.

He couldn't tell her, not now, not after their afternoon together. She didn't need any more anxiety in her life.

They stepped away from each other and smiled quietly. Leila turned and left, not daring to look back, afraid she might not be able to keep it together if she did.

As she walked further and further away, her heart slowing and her finally catching up with her and the soreness between her legs becoming pronounced, Leila felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. It had been exhilarating, funny and sweet when she was in Blaise's arms. But now, as she went further away, the magnanimity of what she had just done pressed down on her.

She had never been much of a romantic but she would've never really anticipated that she would do this rather arbitrarily, unromantically. And added to that, she also felt a terrible premonition that she wouldn't see him again, that he was lost to her.

_"And it hasn't even been a year since the boy you loved and wanted to be with in every way was killed in front of you."_ said her conscience, in a rather vicious tone.

Her steps faltered and she felt ill. Self loathing washed over her. She stopped and forced herself to take deep breaths. And then she allowed herself to be angry. The anger came from a place that was diametrically opposite to her guilt. She was angry at her life. She was angry at being locked up. She was angry that Voldemort's death was her responsibility. And she was angry that Cedric's clone hung around, not allowing her to put the memory of her boyfriend to rest. She was angry that he'd died in the first place. If he'd been here, it would've been his arms she sought solace in, her heart 100% in it and filled with longing rather than just lust and nostalgia for a life she had lost.

And by gods, if she gave herself a chance to live a little, if she chose to have sex with someone she liked, if she allowed herself one afternoon of letting go and not investing herself emotionally, she wasn't going to feel bad. God knows, she deserved it, as did Blaise.

Feeling strangely empowered by her defiance, she marched off in the direction of the cafeteria.

Her heart sank a bit when she did see Lily finally, her defiant stance faltering as she looked at her mother's face light up at the sight of her and listen to her tease her about being taken in by the hospital. Leila squirmed with guilt, suddenly wondering if Lily noticed that her lips were a shade darker, bruised with all the attention, or the way her hair looked like it had a pair of hands running roughly through it, tugging at it, or that she was walking a bit gingerly.

She knew she was being paranoid and told herself to shut up.

_"Not a chance, Potter. You're not going to regret this. You owe nobody an explanation or justification. Your body, your life, your choice. And you had a good time and it was with a boy you care about and he wanted it as much as you did. The world can suck it."_ she told herself sternly, feeling her confidence and her good mood perk up. She smiled back at her mother as they set off to retrieve the almost-recovered Arthur Weasley.

When Leila reached home and her eyes fell on the two people she least wanted to see at the moment, she wished she hadn't asked the world to suck it because it seemed to consider it a provocation and meted out an answering punishment.

Among the small group of people cheerfully lounging around in the living room, waiting to greet Arthur and his escorts, were Cedirc Diggory and Sirius Black, both with their eyes fixed on her and her alone, tearing her defence down, drowning her in guilt and making her palpitate as the afternoon flashed behind in front of her eyes. She didn't feel even the tiniest bit righteous any more and she wished the earth would split under her and swallow her whole.

**A/N: I thought writing a good sex scene is hard but writing an AWKWARD sex scene is waaaaay harder! I was going for smut that would make people wince a bit at the uncomfortableness of it all and I hope I succeeded... **

**Erm... Yeah. She slept with Blaise. Heh. Sorry? **

**But she now knows she has feelings for Sirius so a big YAY for that! **

**And this whole thing with Blaise has consequences that are super important as you'll see in the following chapters and ... You guys are going to want to kill me for this anyway so I'm going to run and hide now. Bubye! *hasty wave and runs away really fast***


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: To all the wonderful people reading this fanfiction, thank you so, so much for being so supportive. I expected quite a bit of bashing for the previous chapter and I was stunned to find that most of the reviews were positive and encouraging. **

**I consider it a privilege that you're okay with me taking the story along whatever path I fancy, particularly seeing as I can be downright cruel with the characters and make them do questionable things. But you're most welcome to tell me off any time you want. I do genuinely feel apologetic when you dislike where the character or story is heading and I do sometimes modify the plot based on your reviews if I think it's doable. **

**I also apologise for using the word 'consequence' after a sex scene. She used a contraceptive spell so obviously she isn't pregnant. **

**While I'm on the topic of my cruelty with the characters, I thought a warning is due for the story henceforth. The 'M' rating on this fanfic is a clear indication that only adults ought to be reading this. The rating isn't just for the sexual content but also, as you might've noticed in a few of my previous chapters, I'm not shy with graphic violence. **

**Obviously, this caution was due a few chapters ago, but I'm reinforcing it here before you continue reading.**

**And thus endeth the long, self indulgent Author's note (sheepish smile). Onward with the chapter!**

Lily laughed at Sirius's antics, as he ran around the kitchen making everyone pull on a cracker and adorning his person with whatever popped out. He now had three hats on, two reading glasses, a fur scarf and a fake pipe, and a swallow flew around his head.

Leila walked in, looking very distracted. Sirius stopped in front of her and said something. She stared at him a bit strangely and then smiled vaguely, went past him and sat next to Tonks. Lily groaned in despair. Sirius seemed to have finally decided to forgive Leila in his enthusiasm for Christmas and had clearly been expecting Leila to throw herself into his arms as soon as she viewed the thawing ice. But it looked like she was returning his efforts with more restraint that he expected. Lily hoped she would be the Sirius he knew and not let it bother him and deal with it by playfully hounding Leila rather than turn into the Sirius of this world and act like a wounded Hippogriff.

Blessedly, the holiday spirit seemed to have driven away his shadows and he chased after James, insisting he wear the yellow, singing cardigan he got out of one of his crackers, stopping to ruffle Leila's hair every time he went near her.

But Lily worried about Leila now. She had been acting off all evening and she supposed it had something to do with Cedric who was across the room from her, his eyes travelling back to her every every other minute.

She felt sorry for both of them. It was a terrible predicament for either person. Lily winced as she realized no one had told Leila that Cedric would be living in Grimmauld Place permanently henceforth, his deteriorating relationship with his father finally ending in him leaving home, not wanting to make his mother constantly have to act as mediator.

When she had tried to tell James that leaving Cedric in the same house as Leila might not be good for either of them, he had brushed it off. Cedric was like his surrogate son and he would not hear of him going to any other Order member's house. Lily also suspected that James was actively trying to get Leila to be with Cedric. When she called him on it, he furiously denied it, snapping at her all day and had even glared at poor Cedric needlessly.

As Lily watched Cedric throw his covert glances at Leila, she sighed internally. James really was an idiot sometimes.

Leila seemed to recover a bit over dinner, surrounded by the Weasleys, Hermione, Tonks, Neville and Natasha. They turned out to be loud and riotous bunch and her laughter turned genuine, much to Lily's relief.

It was almost midnight by the time everyone left and headed to their rooms, filled with good cheer. Lily tossed in bed, restless. James was awake next to her, watching her.

"Are you going to tell me what's bothering you or do I have to wait till you mull it over, make it worse than what it is and finally let it all out in a hysterical blubbering mess?" he asked her teasingly, playing with strands of her dark red hair.

"I can't sleep." she grumbled.

"Neither can I." said James in a husky voice, his lips tracing her ear. She moaned softly and reached up to tangle her fingers in his messy hair.

"Merry Christmas, Evans." he whispered in her ear, before kissing her deeply. Lily's unnamed worries vanished as she melted into her husband's arms.

A few doors down, their daughter was wide awake, troubled and worrying about her friend, contemplating the terrible news from inside the Death Eaters' camp, wondering if she ought to tell the Order, trying her best to ignore the soreness between her legs and squash down thoughts of her godfather, a few doors away.

Remus Lupin was in his own room, tired but delighted. The full moon was approaching and he wasn't too worried because he'd get the Wolfsbane from Dumbledore as he had for months now. James had been delighted and disappointed all at once. He had been hoping for an excuse for the three Marauders to run about at night in some forest in southern England. But Remus was glad. He didn't even want to contemplate the safety repercussions of that. It had been a good Christmas, the best one since 1980 at Godric's Hollow.

He decided to let go of all his worrying for the night and revel in the peace and happiness. He knew how rare these moments were.

Further down, Sirius Black was awake as well. His thoughts swirled around past Christmas memories at the Potters', the holidays that were pleasant back when he and his cousins were very young and his parents not completely insane yet. His mind wandered to his brother and immediately fought the thought away. Regulus always evoked mixed feelings in him, the most predominant being guilt. His brother might have been a fool who refused to stand up to their mother but he was a gentle soul, who let the darkness consume him because he wouldn't fight back, turning against Sirius as well when he ran away, no doubt, feeling betrayed. Sirius thought him a pathetic doormat, always looking at him condescendingly, exasperatedly.

And off late, it was impossible to think about Regulus without thinking about Leila. Sirius struggled with himself as she was always in his mind. When he was happy, when he was sad, when he was busy, bored, angry... it didn't matter. Leila was foremost in his thoughts.

Sirius buried himself deeper in his blanket as he struggled with the thoughts of her he did not want to face. Leila in his arms, Leila next to him, under him, over him... Leila looking up at him, wearing nothing but his shirt, smiling mischievously, her cheeks pink as she pulled him to her...

"Fuck!" he swore angrily, pushing the sheets away as he sat up. He'd known for some time now, that his feelings for her had taken a dangerous turn. He struggled to come to terms with the fact that he had always wanted her in ways he shouldn't.

Sirius exhaled and stood up. He didn't know what he was doing anymore. He just wanted to be near her, have her smile at him and seek the comfort of his arms. Instead, they were still fighting and Sirius clenched his teeth as he thought about Snape.

_"The Bastard. I bet half the reason he went to her was just to piss us off. Fucking Snivellus."_

He was fighting with his beloved Leila over Severus fucking Snape. He paced restlessly. He needed to fix this. She was one of the few people who could give him a hard time and refuse to cave to his anger but she was also the first one to fly back into his arms if he showed even the slightest tinge of remorse. But this time, she had held her ground. Today, he'd pranced around her, desperate to get her attention, but she'd looked away, her eyes troubled. She never looked away from him, even when she was angry.

He would get her back tonight. And he would find a way to throw Snivellus out of their collective lives. He went to the ornate desk draw and opened it, looking for the box he had kept in there.

He had originally gotten it for Leila, months ago, but his fit of anger had made him change his mind and opt for a more impersonal book on Defence Strategies, which was now wrapped and under the tree. Clutching the small black box, he quietly made his way to her and Regulus's room.

Sirius scowled at the thought. He found that he and everybody in house often referred to it as Leila and Regulus's room, as if they both lived there. Even people like Molly Weasley who didn't know his brother called it that occasionally. It was infuriating and for the life of him, he couldn't help wonder why they did it. It was Leila who had started it by calling it her and Regulus's room and now it stuck and it drove him mad.

He knocked lightly, hoping Leila was still awake.

"Come in." Leila called, assuming it was Ron or Hermione. She was startled to find Sirius there. He stood there, in his shirtless glory, looking at her with a devilish smile.

Leila swallowed, trying to keep her eyes fixed to his face and found that it wasn't helping as she held his intense gaze.

"Did you get the wrong room? Were you looking for someone you aren't currently ignoring?"

Sirius grinned and bounded up to her, looking rather cheerful. He made himself comfortable on her bed and Leila couldn't breathe properly. He always did that but tonight, after her less than innocent thoughts about him had surfaced and wouldn't recede, this was proving to be a bit too much for her to handle.

"I was looking for my darling Leila." he sang, his own heart beating faster at the sight of her disheveled hair, her long, bare legs and the way she clutched her pillow to her chest, in an almost defensive manner.

"What do you want, Black?" she snapped, feeling very edgy, wanting him out of her room and yet, wanting him to never, ever leave.

He sighed and looked at her, his hand reaching for hers. It was the same hand that Blaise had kissed this afternoon and Leila died a little bit inside.

_"I'm trying not to have inappropriate thoughts about my godfather, who I may have accidentally fallen in love with, hours after I lost my virginity to someone I have only platonic feelings for, less than a year after the boy I loved was murdered in front of me. I am a terrible human being... AND WHY IS SIRIUS STILL HOLDING MY HAND?"_

Leila really wished Sirius would leave so that she could stew in her own misery. But he looked far too comfortable, his fingers entwined with hers, a soft smile on his face.

"I miss you." he said, regretfully.

"Whose fault is that?"

"Yours. Of all the people you pick, you go to Snivellus-"

"Do we have to start this argument on Christmas? Can we have one holiday without conflict?"

Sirius seemed to be putting enormous effort into reeling himself in. He continued to smile and said, "Agreed. But I will hassle you about it the second the clock crosses midnight tomorrow."

"I look forward to it."

"But for now, my pretty princess, I have a Christmas present for you."

"You couldn't just stick it under the tree?"

"I have one for you under the tree. This is a special one, for now. Here."

Leila took the box from him and raised her eyebrows. "Be careful, Lord Black. Spoiling me now sets the bar high for every Christmas."

Sirius barked a laugh. "I can keep up. Open it."

She carefully opened the box and her eyes widened. "I-wow. This is beautiful!"

"You like it?" asked Sirius, pleased by the awed expression on her face.

"I love it. And it's very, very not me. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking it's about time you started getting gifts that didn't have the dual utility of cutting through ropes and stabbing people. Or chocolate. You're worse than Moony sometimes. So here it is."

Leila stared at the ring with a bright white moonstone set in a white gold with four distinct, intricately designed points. It was luminous and beautiful. While she wasn't generally inclined to care about jewellery, the gift itself was so unexpected and it made her feel oddly vulnerable.

She stared at it, a strange emotion welling up inside her and suddenly, she realized something. The ring looked like a bright star.

"Sirius." she whispered in realization.

"Yes?"

"No, I meant the ring! It's the star Sirius, isn't it?" She looked at him, her eyes wide.

His lips twitched and his eyes were bright, pleased she had made the connection. "Yes, it is. At least I thought it looked like it. I wanted you to have it on your hand, so you can always think of me even when I'm not there, probably because we're fighting, and it'll make you feel guilty and forgive me." His tone was light and teasing.

She felt tears sting her eyes.

Sirius's stared at her in alarm as he caught the hint of tears.

"Leila?" he said softly.

"It's the most beautiful thing anyone has given me." she whispered. "Thank you."

Sirius swallowed hard. He picked up the ring and held her right hand and slowly slipped it into her ring finger. He raised the hand and pressed an open mouth kiss over the ring, letting his lips hover, his eyes closed. It proved to be too much for Leila. She tightened her grip on his hand and tears fell fast.

The entire day's events overwhelmed her. Blaise, his terrible plan for escaping, his touches, the feeling of him inside her, her own dark, frightening realization of her true feelings for the man in front of her and the way his hand felt on hers, like fire, sparking desire that made her want to throw herself onto him.

She hated that something was clearly wrong with her and her moral compass. And she hated that she stopped caring the minute Sirius's skin touched hers.

Sirius brushed her tears away, worried. "I'm glad you like it but I know something else his bothering you. There's no way you'll cry for something like this. Talk to me."

Leila shook her frantically, terror seizing her at the thought of ever telling Sirius about what happened that afternoon.

Sirius frowned at her and sat up properly, looking at her intently. Leila couldn't meet his eyes.

"Let's go down. I could really use some hot chocolate." she whispered, needing a valid reason to get away, unable to handle being so close to him.

Sirius nodded. He didn't want to but he felt the need to be cautious. Leila wasn't one to cry unless there was a really good reason and he knew something was terribly amiss.

They both went down quietly, not wanting to wake anyone up. Leila kept glancing at the ring, amazed at how beautiful it was. Sirius caught her doing that and grinned to himself, enormously pleased.

They both froze as the sound of voices came drifting towards them.

Exchanging an alarmed look, the both slowly stuck their heads around and to their astonishment, found James, Lily and Remus there.

"Oh, hello!" said Remus brightly. "You couldn't sleep either?"

"No." said Leila, walking in. "We come in search of a hot drink."

Lily chuckled and poured out two more mugs and passed it to her and Sirius.

James beamed happily as he looked around at all of them. It was exactly like Christmas night at Godric's Hollow, only Leila was here as well and James finally felt like his family was complete. He was glad they couldn't sleep because it gave him his private moment with the four people he loved the most.

Leila spent all of Christmas day feeling wired. She had no faith that Voldemort would let the holiday go without incident. It would be just like him to be sadistic enough to blow something up or slaughter an entire county as they sat around with their families, in peace, opening presents.

"You're strung like a testy cat, Potter." Mad Eye said, sitting next to her, joining her in watching Fred and George hurl mini cream pies at each other, being cheered on by James, Sirius, Tonks and Frank.

"I'm waiting for code red." she murmured to him.

Mad Eye looked at her approving. "Constant Vigilance. You're a lot like me, Potter."

"Thanks Auror Moody, I think."

"I'm sorry our training sessions have gone bust. But your old man says you've been getting plenty of practice in this infernal house?"

Leila grinned and recounted everything she had stumbled across and what she'd learned. Mad Eye shook his head. "And to think people were raising children in this place. This explains a lot about Black though. I always thought he was barking mad because someone hit him on the head as a baby. But I have a new theory now."

Leila spluttered in laughter at that. Remus, who overheard him, snickered as well.

Natasha came up to her and sat on her lap and excitably thanked Leila for the book of illustrated dragons she'd gotten her, with Charlie Weasley's recommendation.

"Get a new hobby next year, Tash." Leila told her with a laugh. "I'm running out of dragon related ideas."

Hagrid too came up and pulled her into a rib crushing hug. "I miss seeing you around."

"Me too, Hagrid. Me too. Do you think they'll ever reopen school?"

"They're talking about it seriously. A lot of families are choosing home schooling 'cause no one wants their kids outta their sight now. Some of the smaller schools around England have increased their capacity and taken in students. But Hogwarts is Hogwarts. I'd wager they'll have it up and running in a year. Can't let an entire generation of kids not attend the best school in the country, can they?"

Leila cheered up at that. The prospect of seeing Hogwarts, attempting normal education, was a welcome notion, despite of the fact it would be impossible to go back to what it was. Hogwarts would be a different place, full of intrigue and high security if they went back, nothing like the carefree paradise she knew and loved.

The entire day passed by in peace and it made Leila's nerves tingle. It was never a good thing when Voldemort went underground because when he finally did surface, it would be an explosive comeback.

After everyone left, she helped Lily and Remus clear up. She stayed up with Ron and Hermione for a bit, as they sat in companionable seclusion, glad to have some time for just the three of them. Finally Ron slept on the couch, spilling his eggnog on himself and Leila firmly ushered him and Hermione up to bed.

A week went by and there was still nothing. Leila knew she ought to be happy but it only made her edgier. She threw herself into her Occlumency and sometimes stayed longer in Spinner's End, because Snape didn't laugh or talk unnecessarily.

Leila had never been more thankful that she could completely shut her mind off now because she didn't think she could bear him seeing her memories from Christmas Eve. She developed a healthy respect for her new skill. Now Snape had moved on beyond basic shielding to constructing more complex shields and laying out false memories.

It was ridiculously difficult and Leila was reminded of her first few attempts at casting her Patronus. It was months before she could even produce a formless silver mass. This was far worse.

New Year was a quiet affair. The Order members with families went home, their house wards being strengthened and tightened over the two days, including the Weasleys and Gideon. That left Cedric, Hermione and Leila to join the Marauders and they raised a quiet toast for a strange and eventful year gone by and for new beginnings.

Leila and Hermione called it a night a little after midnight. Both of them wanted to be alone, only in each other's company. Hermione was homesick and worrying about her parents in Australia. Leila was still couldn't handle sitting in the room with both Cedric and Sirius in it, without squirming with guilt. Besides, her parents, Sirius and Remus were in one of their gleeful, Marauder re-living moods and Leila knew better than to stick around for it. Experience told her that anybody not a marauder present would become the automatic target for pranks and jokes.

Leila slept in Ginny's bed that night, not wanting to leave an upset Hermione by herself.

January was bleak, the holidays over and the house emptied out again, leaving Leila and Hermione alone and often Cedric was under house arrest too, as he was only allowed to fight if the Order was completely overwhelmed or if it was a low key, safe operation.

"I can't wait for Fred and George to join. Then I won't be the youngest and I can get out a bit more." he grumbled to the girls one morning.

"At least you two have gotten out. Aside from Snape's house, I've been stuck here." said Leila, grumpily poking at her fried egg.

"Hestia's place had a lovely garden." said Hermione dreamily. "It was out in the country..."

Leila looked in the direction of her own miserable garden and sighed. Cedric followed her gaze and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

Hermione tried to occupy herself in the library and she did enjoy it, guiltily pursuing volumes that she would normally only find in the restricted section in Hogwarts. But with Leila gone half the day, Kreacher's vicious abuses at the resident 'mudbloods' and the gloominess of the house, she was spiralling, constantly anxious and moody. She tried to keep it hidden from Leila but they weren't best friends for nothing. Leila saw through her immediately and understood. Leila had gotten used to the house and had even learned to deal with negativity it generated. She knew Hermione wasn't faring well and insisted she move to the Burrow. The argument ended in a compromise, with Hermione and Ron visiting her every alternate day after her Occlumency lessons.

For Leila, it was a major improvement from the early Grimmauld Place days and she was happy that she got to see her friends. It was almost like Hogwarts again, with just the three of them messing about, eating chocolates and laughing, occasionally studying because Hermione insisted they needed to work like it was an OWL year. Ron and Leila couldn't have cared less about formal education but they humoured her, knowing she needed the distraction.

The arrangement also meant Leila was often left alone with Cedric quite a bit. But it turned out to be cathartic. Cedric seemed to be determined not to make any advances on her, keeping it strictly platonic. Leila was relieved and she slowly started talking to him. As she re-acquainted herself with him, she could see how much of his personality was resonant with the Cedric she knew. But she also noticed how different he was in some ways. This Cedric had a harder edge to him, his humour more sardonic and he wasn't as soft spoken as his counterpart. The differences were subtle but to Leila, they seemed magnified because it affected all the things she had loved about Cedric the most.

She hesitantly told him one day that he wasn't the same and he had actually smiled and said he hoped so.

"After having to deal with my father in this reality... I don't want to be the Cedric you knew."

Leila was annoyed by that. "Cedric was a darling, nothing like his father."

"Maybe. I Can't judge someone I've never met, even if it is myself. But _my_ father was a different man and I want to be the man _he_ raised me to be and I have no intention of turning into this Amos's son."

Leila sighed and shook her head. She felt terribly sorry for all the people who had to deal with multiple personalities and alternate lives. She couldn't help feeling grateful for being killed off as a baby in the other reality.

His confession made it easier for her to be around him and she saw him as a person unto himself rather than the shadow of her love. It made her pain lessen and she finally began to move on, realizing that she could be around him without anguish piercing her heart. It also made her less prone to bouts of guilt when she thought about her afternoon with Blaise.

Cedric too, started viewing her as a person, rather than the phantom girl from his dreams who captured his heart. It didn't lessen his fascination with her but his altercation with his family had opened his eyes to the complexity of the situation and he backed off, waiting for her to make a move, if at all, resigned to the fact that she may never because he'd finally understood that he wasn't the Cedric she had loved.

The streets outside were splashed in red and pink, the city celebrating Valentine's day. Leila was alone in her room, oblivious to all festivity, her small, dark world sealed off from everything outside of it. No one was at home and she had had a long day with Snape. She'd finally managed to create a false memory as a trap but she couldn't hold it for too long and it had collapsed under repeated attack, draining her.

She stayed in the bath for hours, shutting her eyes and tuning the world out. She finally got out when hunger started making itself known. She went out in her robe and found an envelope on her bed. She looked at it warily. She picked it up and pulled the parchment inside it out.

_You don't need spring to bring life to a garden. All you need in your world is a little light. _

Leila's breath caught in her throat. It was in Cedric's handwriting. She hesitated, fiddled and took her time getting dressed. She went down slowly, hoping he wouldn't do something stupid just when she was starting to be comfortable around him.

She went to the kitchen and hesitantly placed her hand on the knob to the door that led to the garden. Taking a deep breath, she opened it and she stared in delight.

The garden was exactly the same but small lanterns had been strung around the lower branches and small charmed fairies, with glowing wings, floated above the sparse shrubbery. The garden glowed with pinpricks of light, perfect against the dark sky.

It was beautiful. Leila grinned at it. She turned and found Cedric leaning against the door, his eyes twinkling like the fairies he had let loose in the garden.

"It's beautiful. Thank you." she said, her cheeks tinged pink as she took in his tall frame, his hands shoved into his pockets and his bright smile, looking carefree and boyishly charming. It made her breath catch in her throat and her heart constricted as she mourned for the version of him she had lost.

He stepped out and looked up the yew tree and hummed a little. Leila looked up with him and smiled. The light from the garden seemed to cast a soft glow in the air above them.

He was standing close to her and the heat from his body warmed her up. She wasn't dressed for the chill. A sudden thought crossed her mind. She held out her wand and closed her eyes.

"What are you doing?" asked Cedric.

"I'm giving my weather modifying spell a go and get the temperature up by a few degrees."

"Why?"

"Because I want to stay out all night with your firefly fairies and revel in the most magical thing I have seen all year."

Her closed eyes kept her from seeing Cedric's gleeful smile. She took a deep breath and whispered the incantation.

The air stilled, the wind died out and Leila opened her eyes, triumphant. It turned to shock when it started to snow.

"What the-?"

Cedric burst out laughing. Leila stared in dismay as snow gently cascaded around her.

"How did I manage to make the reverse happen?" she groaned. She wrapped her arms around herself tighter and grumbled under her breath.

The tree and the shrubs started gathering white sprinkles. But the lights didn't dim. They seemed more luminous in the snow and Leila sighed in relief. _"Oh well, it's still gorgeous."_

She started when Cedric placed a warm blanket around her and handed her a mug of steaming hot chocolate.

"Like I said, all you need is light. And you made it more beautiful." he told her with a grin, nursing his own mug, a blanket thrown around his shoulders as well. Leila smiled and raised her mug to him and said, "To accidental improvements."

He grinned back at her and both of them stood under the snowy sky, laughing, their bodies close for warmth as they gazed at the lights around them.

It could've been perfect. But it felt wrong to Leila, because she knew what his intentions were and it wasn't platonic.

_"Why not give in?"_ a treacherous whisper in her mind drawled. _"It would be so easy. It could be like before... You could be who you were before..."_

Leila sighed as she allowed the thought to filter through. It was wishful thinking. She would never be the girl who had fallen in love with Cedric. So much had happened since then. She was a soldier on the bench, waiting like a convict on a death row and with more to lose than ever before. She had lost, found and changed to the point she didn't recognize herself any more. She wasn't the orphaned hero now, with no real home or future to care about. She had a family, who loved her and who she loved in return and the depth of the emotion terrified her. She now had weaknesses that extended beyond Ron and Hermione. She was no longer innocent, having tasted combat, death and loveless lust.

She was no longer Cedric's Leila. And the realization stung. And the same nostalgia that had overwhelmed her to give herself to Blaise threatened to wash over her again as her mind pleaded with her to take the last rope up to to the sun and hold onto a former life. She could come to love this Cedric as she used to, couldn't she?

_"I can't."_ she thought, yet another realization washing over her. _"The light I want isn't that of the sun's."_

She glanced at the now permanent fixture on her right ring finger, glimmering from the tiny lights around her.

She wanted the light from the bright star in the lonely, dark emptiness of the night sky.

She now loved a man she should never want in the way she did.

They didn't notice the lone Auror who had come back home, the sight of all the hearts and mushy love messages sending him restlessly back to the place where his own heart was, in spite of his disdain for the trivial fan fare. He stood at the kitchen entrance, looking across the room at the two people in the garden, his vision tinted with the same red as the decorations all over the city.

Sirius Black watched them laugh softly and his heart bled. And his rage and pain forced out the truth he had known for a while now but had refused to acknowledge.

He loved her. Not as her godfather, but as a man. And nothing else mattered, his mind tuning out thoughts of consequences of this damned love, of Voldemort, of James.

The green eyed monster reared his head and Sirius stepped forward slowly, blindly, towards the pair. She would be his and his alone.

But his instinctual intentions were waylaid by Tonks and Kingsley striding in, looking very pale.

"Leila?" called Tonks, jerking Sirius out of his hypnotized slow march.

Leila came in, looking surprised. "Hey Tonks! Hiya Kinglsey, Sirius! You guys have to see the garden! Cedric's outdone himself and- Are you alright?"

Tonks looked agitated. Leila continued to look at her, puzzled and worried.

"We found a body."

She blinked . "Eh?"

"We found it in East London, under a Dark Mark. It looks like they've been holding him there for a while. They've tortured him."

"They've literally- Oh Merlin..." said Tonks, looking anguished. "I've never seen anything like it and just when I think nothing can shock me-"

"Why are you telling her this?" demanded Sirius, furiously. "Where's James?"

"He's in Birmingham." said Kingsley quietly. "We tried reaching him before we got here."

"What's going on?" cut across Leila, feeling panic rise.

"They wrote a message on the walls with his blood." said Tonks flatly. "It said, 'Leila Potter can tell you who this is.'"

Leila stared at them in shock. "What-I -_how_?"

"We don't know. Do you think you think you can identify-"

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" said Sirius dangerously. "You know James's orders. You don't get her involved, not without Lily or him consenting-"

"They're both dealing with the safe rooms of the Bosnian pureblood extremists we found in Birmingham yesterday and can't be reached. And this is important. The message also said 'Let him be an example to all traitors.'" That's a threat. If we know who he is, we might know which demographic they're threatening. By Thor, Sirius, you should've seen it. It's awful what they did to whoever it is... His face is gone!"

"His face is gone? asked Leila softly, her own voice sounding far away in her ears. _"No... They didn't... No, No, No..."_

"Leila, go upstairs." commanded Sirius.

"I think I know who it is. " she said softly. "Take me to him."

"NO!" roared Sirius.

"Sirius, please." said Tonks quietly. "If the message is nothing to go by then there's going to be a round of killings and if he's targeting youngsters... The kid can't be older than-"

"Fifteen." finished Leila softly, her eyes vacant. "Take me to him."

"Definitely not."

"Sirius." He stared at her. Her eyes were empty. Her face was devoid of colour. "Please."

He clenched his teeth. When the death eaters left warning messages, they were very quick to follow up with more bodies. He knew this was important but-

"Fine. But I go with you."

Kingsley and Tonks led them through a maze of derelict buildings in Hackney till they reached an old, crumbling building. They went up the stairs and into a dimly let room. Sirius, taller than all of them, saw the sight over Tonk's head and hissed in horror. He grabbed Leila's shoulders and pulled her back.

"Are you mad?" he asked Kingsley, looking ill. "You want her to look at this?"

But Tonks had moved aside and it was too late. Leila's head spun at what lay on the ground a few feet from her.

The boy's body was clad in filthy robes, unremarkable ones. Not the kind _he _would ever be caught dead in. That gave her the small amount of hope she was looking for. She stepped forward and stopped again, her blood freezing.

The face was completely missing, looking like it had been ripped of, skull included. Leila could actually see his parts of the his eyeballs and his brain and she almost threw up. Her knees buckled and she almost crumpled to the floor but Sirius caught her and held her up, one arm around her waist and the other across her collarbone, his grip tight on her shoulder.

"Enough." he said hoarsely. "We're leaving."

"No." said Leila, trembling. "I have to know if it's him."

She steeled herself and stepped forward and knelt next to the body, Sirius still behind her, kneeling with her, his arms crushing her to him. The body had started to go into rigor mortis and Leila could feel the stiffness of the corpse as she slowly undid the fastenings on his robe. She peeled it away and looked a few inches under his collarbone.

And there it was, the oddly shaped birthmark, that resembled the sun.

She had pressed her lips over it as he moved inside her and she'd told him that the mark was a postal stamp from the Universe, telling him he was on his way to sunny beaches and a tropical paradise. He'd asked her what the fuck a postal stamp was.

She looked up at Tonks and Kingsley and said softly, "Blaise Zabini."


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: I'm so, so sorry about Blaise. It was as hard for me to write as it was for you to read. He was my favourite character. **

**Thanks for the kind reviews :) **

**It's been a great week, to be able to have the time to write all three chapters at a stretch. Sadly, day-to-day life does beckon and it's back to a more scheduled, weekly (hopefully) update after this chapter. **

**Cheers and have a great week! **

The Aurors walked in and out, barking orders and hissing instructions. Leila would've normally been interested in what was going on but she was mentally absent, her mind stuck on Blaise's mutilated body.

She was vaguely aware of the rest of the Auror department showing up suddenly and insisting she needed to come down to the Ministry building to make a statement. Sirius, Kingsley and Tonks told Dawlish and Jameson to piss off but they'd touted procedural codes and threatened to get Scrimgeour involved. Leila had put an end to the heated argument by quietly agreeing to come along. She wanted to help. She wanted to _kill_.

She was sitting slumped on Sirius's chair in his cubicle, staring emptily at the mess on his table. James's table was adjacent to his and similar looking but a bit more tidier.

Kingsley disappeared to issue orders to the junior Aurors, including Tonks, to reach out to known old blood families that were resisting Voldemort and warn them. He also got Dawlish and Jameson out of their hair by getting them to draw up a list of all the children of suspected Death Eaters who were still in Britain. Then he vanished from the building.

Sirius had insisted on staying with Leila and he watched her from his place on James's chair, with growing alarm at the switched off expression on her face. It reminded him strongly of the time she had woken up after returning from the graveyard.

Unable to sit and watch, terrified that she might slip into shock again like the last time, he got up and knelt in front of her.

"Look at me. Please."

She stared at him and for some reason, flinched and looked away, unable to meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry." he said sincerely. "About ... Blaise. I know he was one of your best friends."

It was the wrong thing to say because she squeezed her eyes shut in obvious agony.

Sirius took her hands in his and rubbed them with his palms, trying to get some warmth into them. His mind was buzzing. _"Voldemort must have ordered for that message to be scrawled on the wall to get to Leila."_ Sirius pondered on his choice of victim. Zabini was pureblood and he was young, well below the age Voldemort branded his Death Eaters. It looked like he was being hunted down. Sirius hoped it wasn't solely because of his connection to Leila. She didn't need this on her conscience.

James strode into the office, tight lipped and pale. Sirius looked up at and him and started to say something but James cut him off.

"Tonks told me. You should've waited for me, Sirius." Icicles chipped from his voice.

"I made him take me." said Leila quietly. "Don't be angry with him, please."

James's expression melted a bit. He gestured for Sirius to get out of the way and he took his place, pulling her to him and holding her. She felt so cold.

"If she's done with her statement, why is she still here?"

"You know how this works, James. Kingsley will have to sign it off and he isn't here."

"I don't care-"

"I don't want her here either. But if we don't follow procedure on this, Scrimgeour will use it as an excuse to come down hard on us. Just a bit longer and we can sign off."

James and Sirius exchanged grim looks. They had been working extra hard to keep the Order away from the Ministry officials, often taking wrong victim statements that deleted the presence of any of the Order members who had arrived before the ministry officials. It was a shame Jameson and Dawlish showed up or else Leila could've gotten out of there immediately.

_"Not if her name is scrawled over the victim."_ thought Sirius, grimly. _"They would've made her come in anyway."_

It was hours before Kingsley returned and he had a deeply troubled expression on his face. He strode in and gave Leila a very disturbed look. He signed off her statement identifying Blaise Zabini to be the victim and insisted that they leave immediately.

His urgent undertone alerted James and Sirius that something was wrong. But before they could get up, Yaxley came in, followed by Scrimgeour and a woman. James and Sirius recognized her and were instantly on their feet, their wands in their hands.

"Undersecretary Umbridge." said Kingsley politely, giving James and Sirius a warning look. She was infamous among the Order members, especially Remus, for her hard stance on werewolves and other non-human magical creatures.

"Head Auror Shacklebolt!" she trilled, a bright smile on her face. Her high pitched voice startled Leila out of her stupour and she stared at the woman. Her instincts screamed at her to get up and hex this woman.

Umbridge caught sight of Leila and her smile widened and Leila felt like a canary being eyed by a cat. "Miss Potter! I'm delighted to finally make your acquaintance! This is Nathan Yaxley from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and you've met our Prime Minister, of course."

Leila wanted to back away. Her stomach clenched painfully.

"What is this about, Minister?" asked Kingsley calmly.

"We're here to take Miss Potter in for questioning." said Yaxley, not even bothering to hide his smirk.

"Excuse me?" said James in disbelief. "For what?"

"In light of her connection to Mr Zabini's murder."

"I believe that's _our_ jurisdiction." said Kingsley, his voice becoming slightly cold.

"Ah yes, but we think that this is a special circumstances case. Her er... connections in the Auror department might make the investigation look a little biased and we wouldn't want that, would we?"

Sirius stood up to his full height, making him taller than all three of them, and gazed down at them in a cold, imperial way. He looked every bit like the son of Orion Black at the moment.

"Her statement is straightforward. She was forthcoming in her identification of the body. I don't see what else there is left to talk about."

Umbridge shrunk back from his cold gaze but Yaxley held his own, smiling nastily. "Her statements don't include her connection to the victim nor does it verify her whereabouts at the time of his murder."

James stepped up next to Sirius, his face as dark as his friend's. "Whereabouts? That sounds like an accusation, Yaxley. Do you have something to back it up, other than an undoubtedly interesting hypothesis you've come up with?" Neither James nor Sirius saw Kingsley tense at his words.

Yaxley and Umbridge smirked at one another. "As a matter of fact, Mr Potter. We do."

Scrimgeour looked at all of them with a neutral expression. "We won't take long. You're welcome to sit in, of course."

James and Sirius looked taken aback. They were prepared to have to fight to insist that they sit in.

Yaxley caught their surprise and said, "In fact, I insist on it." Leila heard the malice in his tone and her blood ran cold. She had a bad feeling about this.

She walked silently behind the trio, James and Sirius on either side of her, Kingsley bringing up the rear. They gestured her into an empty room on the same floor and Leila went in, half expecting chains and torture instruments.

It was a bare, white walled room. There was a single table, with a chair on one side and the other chairs all scattered on the other. Yaxley indicated that she take the solo chair and Leila did, watching all of them take the remaining seats, such that everyone was facing her. Yaxley and Umbridge were in the front, on the other side of the table, closest to her. Scrimgeour was standing, leaning against the wall. His expression was slightly troubled as he looked at her. Kingsley looked worried while James and Sirius just looked angry.

Leila's instincts were telling her that this was going to be the pits.

Yaxley smiled serenely and leaned forward. "Miss Potter, Leila? Can I call you that?"

"I'd rather you didn't." she said quietly, her skin crawling at the way he said her name - softly, a little creepily. Leila got the feeling he was leering at her.

"But it's such a lovely name. I insist." he said, smiling. He was winding her up on purpose. James and Sirius were narrowing his eyes at him, catching onto his tone.

"So, Leila, how do you know Mr Zabini?"

"I know-knew him from school. We were classmates."

"Just classmates?"

"We were friends."

"Indeed. Which house were you in, Leila?"

"Gryffindor."

"And Mr Zabini?"

"Slytherin."

Yaxley leaned back and gave her a look of wide eyed wonder. "Fascinating! You see, Leila, I attended Hogwarts back in the day-" James and Sirius sneered quietly at that, "-and I seem to remember that the relationship between these two houses was traditionally that of animosity. So you can understand my intrigue at your ..._ friendship_ with Mr Zabini."

"There are exceptions to the rule."

"You seem to be an exception to a lot of rules, Miss Potter." said Umbridge, with a girlish laugh that did nothing to tone down Leila's apprehension. If anything, it made it worse.

She chose to ignore that, keeping her eyes fixed on Yaxley.

Yaxley continued. "Were you just friends?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yaxley-" began Sirius, his voice very, very dangerous.

"I'm just double checking, Auror Black. The newspapers said differently."

"Does the Department of Magical Law Enforcement often use tabloid news as a source of information?" asked Leila bitingly.

"That depends. Were you really his date for the Yule Ball?"

"Yes."

"You went as friends?"

"Yes."

"And your relationship never progressed to anything else?"

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" snarled James.

"Answer the question, Leila."

Leila stared him down. "No."

She mentally started shaking herself out her numb grief. Her gut feeling was telling her that something awful was going on and she needed to be alert and grieve for Blaise later.

"Very well. Where were you this evening when Mr Blaise was killed?"

"At home."

"Can anyone verify that?"

"Yes."

"How good for you."

"I certainly think so." said Leila, coldly.

"And this would be where, exactly?"

Leila stared at him. Yaxley wasn't even trying to be subtle about the fact that he wanted to know where she and the Order were based.

_"He couldn't be a Death Eater, could he? Scrimgeour double checked his advisers and the department heads..."_

"She lives with us." said James, also narrowing his eyes at Yaxley, the seed of suspicion taking root. "Given the security concerns, you'll understand why we won't divulge addresses, Yaxley."

"So you can't verify your whereabouts?"

Leila said, "I expect that to be a problem because I don't see why you would think I would need to."

"Of course, of course." Leila swallowed at the glint in Yaxley's eyes.

"Where was Mr Zabini before his disappearance?"

"I don't know. When did he disappear?" She gave him a challenging look, careful not to take the bait.

"He was reported missing on the 26th of December."

"If you know when, you'd know from where, I presume. So why are you asking me?"

"I think Nathan wants to know if _you_ know where he was, Miss Potter." said Umbridge, smiling nastily.

Leila felt her throat close up. James cut across irritably, saying, "How the hell would she know? She's been under virtual house arrest."

But Kingsley was looking at her worriedly, trying to signal something with his eyes. And Sirius seemed to have caught on in a way James hadn't. He was staring at Leila with a slight frown, as though trying to read her mind.

Leila realized that Yaxley and Umbridge knew she knew, so lying would only make it worse.

"He was at St Mungo's." said Leila quietly. She averted her eyes from James and Sirius, both of them staring at her in shock.

"Why was he there?" asked Umbridge keenly.

"He had Dilibert's Largis." said Leila, her heart thudding.

Sirius and James winced at that, as did Scrimgeour and Kingsley. Even Umbridge shuddered. Yaxley didn't. And it confirmed Leila's suspicions. Only a Death Eater could've known Zabini was faking it. Yaxley was probably part of the party that captured him as he tried to make his escape across the Atlantic.

Leila tasted bile. She was being cross examined in connection to her friend's murder by one of the heartless monsters who killed him in the first place. She forced herself to take a deep breath, understanding the true level of danger she was in.

"That's terrible." said Yaxley, clucking his tongue. "The poor boy must've been so lonely. In fact, his Healer confirmed this evening that in all the months he was in St. Mungo's, he had only one visitor, on Christmas Eve." Yaxley's face was shining like a star atop a Christmas tree.

Leila knew she was screwed.

"A young woman named Anna Denver." added Umbridge gleefully. "A classmate, apparently. But there are no records of any Anna Denver attending Hogwarts."

"And the said young woman's description was remarkably similar to you. Was it you, Miss Potter?" asked Yaxley.

Leila stayed silent, her mind on overload. She had no idea how to deal with this.

"No, it wasn't." said James exasperated. "She wasn't in Mungo's -" he stopped. He remembered that Leila and Lily were indeed there that day. He remembered it distinctly because Sirius, Remus and him were upset that both of them weren't in the house that afternoon because they had been looking forward to spending time with them alone before everyone showed up.

He stared at his quiet daughter with growing horror. _"Oh Merlin, Leila what did you do?"_

_"_I was there." she affirmed, keeping her eyes trained on the two in front of her.

"Why?" It was Scrimgeour who spoke up, looking genuinely interested.

"I wanted to see him. He was lonely and I happened to be in the hospital that day."

"To visit a boy with Dilibert's Largis?" said Umbridge, smirking.

"I was told it was a problem specific to pureblood witches or wizards, and seeing as I'm not one, it wasn't of concern to me."

James and Sirius looked on in growing horror.

"How brave of you. How long were you there?"

"A few hours."

"And you just... talked?" There was no missing the underlying creep factor in the way Yaxley enunciated the last word.

And Leila knew that he knew. Hell, he saw. He or Voldemort himself must've broken into Blaise's mind when torturing him and _seen everything_. Seen them, seen her. And informed Yaxley, probably in detail.

Leila suddenly felt exposed, his eyes roving over her form in a very obvious manner. Nobody behind him could see what he was doing.

Leila felt sick. Now she knew why he had insisted that Sirius, James and Kingsley come in as well. This was more than just about getting her into trouble with the Ministry. It was about punishing her, humiliating her and discrediting her in front of her own family. It was a low blow because as innocent as the whole affair had been at the time, in the light of Blaise's gruesome murder, it now looked perverted, wrong and had implications that would make anyone doubt her intentions or sanity.

Leila forced down the acid rising in her stomach. _"This, Potter, is what you get for 'living' for a change."_ her conscience seemed to mock her.

Leila met his gaze, refusing to think about how he was picturing her at the moment.

"Did Mr Zabini tell you he was going to leave the hospital soon thereafter?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Why would he leave?" Leila played the game for Sirius and her father's sake, hoping to stall. "Isn't it a terminal illness?"

"Because you knew he was lying about his illness."

"What makes you think I had any idea he wasn't really sick?"

"I highly doubt you would've engaged in sexual intercourse with him otherwise."

_"Oh. My. God. He didn't just fucking say that."_

The uproar at his words made Leila wish the ground would swallow her whole. James and Sirius had both shoved their chairs back, advanced on Yaxley with rage. Kingskey, sensing danger, quickly grabbed James while Scrimgeour moved to stop Sirius.

Yaxley kept his eyes fixed on her. Leila levelled her gaze at him, determined to fight it out. Blaise deserved better than her melting into a puddle of regretful mess.

"That's quite an assumption." said Leila, gritting her teeth to keep from spitting out a few choice swear words.

"Not an assumption as much as deduction. The Healer remembers you wearing Mr Zabini's cloak. It was a distinct one he had seen before, so he remembered it clearly."

Leila knew he was lying. Healer Dorion remembered no such thing. That man had been in no frame of mind to make such observations. This was extracted from Blaise's mind. But it didn't matter now because she had been called on her initial lie and had already been established as hiding something. So he could say anything now and it would be assumed it was the truth. She was under the scanner now, not him.

"And? I was wearing his cloak? That's the best you've got? It was cold in there and I borrowed it."

"That and the pile of clothes under Mr Zabini's bed. That must've been awkward, no doubt."

_"You evil schmuck..."_ thought Leila furiously.

"And not to mention the fact you could identify his body without his face. You statement says... er..." Umbridge made a show of looking at the parchment in front of her. "The birthmark well under his collarbone. Not a place generally exposed when fully robed, is it, Miss Potter?"

Leila wished she was the one dead, with her face ripped off. The fact that she and Blaise slept together ultimately saved him from being tossed into a nameless grave had gone from morbid coincidence to a sinister twisted piece of information in an investigation and made it look far more darker than the blameless course of the event itself.

Sirius and James had stopped struggling. They were staring at Leila, waiting for her defence, for her to say anything to refute his claims.

"Leila?" pleaded Sirius, his eyes searching her pale face. "Tell them it isn't true. Tell them this is all one big misunderstanding, that you'd never... you wouldn't... Leila, please... "

But Leila had run out of steam. The grief over his death, the stress at being cornered and her not-greatest judgement call being pulled up in front of James and Sirius had drained her. She slumped on her chair and closed her eyes. She rallied herself for one last round. She had lost trying to safeguard her secret but she needed to fight to stay out of trouble with the Ministry.

"Even if I did, hypothetically, sleep with him, how does that translate to me knowing anything about what happened tonight?' she asked tiredly, the fight leaving her.

Sirius's eyes widened at her words, his face slowly draining of colour as he realized Leila wasn't denying it any more, not really anyway. James was staring at her like he was seeing her for the first time. Kingsley closed is eyes as he sensed the defeat in Leila's tone.

"Because Miss Potter, that would imply your relationship with Mr Zabini was more complex. It would lead some people to assume he told you when he was leaving and given your unfortunate history of shuffling between Mr Diggory and Mr Zabini, a jury might wonder at the possibility that you didn't have something to gain from this."

"I murdered my lover, who was hiding from people who actually wanted to kill him, to be with my dead boyfriend's clone. Great theory. And how does the part where I scrawl my own name in his blood over his body and draw attention to myself fit in?" she asked sarcastically.

"Delusional people aren't always coherent in their decisions." said Umbridge serenely.

Leila stared at her. _"What?"_

"What do you mean _delusional_?"

"I mean, this is the second body in connection to you over the last year... "

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning, Miss Potter, that it looks like all the boys you cavort with find themselves dying in mysterious, unpleasant ways."

The pain induced by that sentence was unbearable. She may not have killed them like Umbridge was implying but she certainly was instrumental in their deaths.

"That's enough." said James. His voice was terrifying and authoritative.

Leila didn't dare look at him. More out of a need to justify to herself than to them, she said softly, "Blaise was on the run from the Death Eaters. He was faking his illness so that it would give him time to get out of here. He died because he refused to be one of them. If you're looking for his killer, I'm afraid you've got the wrong person in this room."

Scrimgeour nodded thoughtfully, with a slight frown. He said, "I believe you, Miss Potter. But you do understand the need to question you further. The fact that Leila Potter was involved is-"

"-Unfortunate." finished Yaxley. He leaned back and looked over her with a mild expression. "Your theory will be examined, of course. But in the meantime, Amos Diggory has started the inquiry against you over his son's death. He is of the opinion that it seems to be a rather unlikely coincidence that both boys' deaths are linked to you and you weren't involved. You will be kept in custody till your trial begins next week."

"Wait a minute!" shouted Kingsley furiously. James and Sirius had looking shell shocked, staring at Yaxley in disbelief. "You have no grounds for her arrest-"

The door burst open and ten wizards strode in, their wands pointed at the three of them.

Kingsley, James and Sirius immediately leaped in front of Leila, their wands out, fury etched on their faces, their confusion vanishing from their faces.

"Aurors, I'm going to have to ask you allow the process to go on unbiased. If you resist or thwart this, you will find yourself suspended and named her accomplice." said Umbridge coldly.

Leila watched the scene unfold in front of her with horror. She saw the look in all three of their eyes. They would fight. They would undoubtedly win. And they would grab her and escape, she was sure of that.

And all four of them would be knee deep in murder charges.

"No!" she snarled at them sharply. She turned to Scrimgeour and said, "Fine. Take me into custody. I didn't kill anyone. But you already know that. This is your golden opportunity to get them to knuckle down, isn't it?"

She turned and hissed at the furious, battle-ready Order members. "Stop! You know what he really wants is for you to do is this. This is as much about you as it is about me."

All three of them knew she was right. Kingsley, still furious, hesitantly started to lower his wand. Neither James nor Sirius did.

"Congrats on reaching for a new low, Minister." said James, his voice deadly, his gaze still trained on Leila. She could see the plea and anguish in his eyes as he glanced at her, as he tried to find a way to get to them and her out.

"What a fucking coward. And stupid... so very stupid." added Sirius softly, his gaze trained on Leila as well. But unlike James, there was no readable emotion, his eyes a flat depthless grey and Leila knew instantly that his anger was beyond measure. He continued to look at her and her skin crawled at his empty face, informing her that his rage wasn't just for the men around her but directed at her as well. She clenched her fist tightly, feeling the ring on her hand dig into her flesh. And she hated Yaxley for what he just did, of what he had broken inside her, for making Sirius look at her like that.

Unable to meet his eyes any longer, Leila turned back to Scrimgeour and said in a low tone. "I'll bite, Minister. I'll play your game. You were going to arrest me, weren't you? Go ahead. I'll meet you in the trial."

Scrimgeour looked genuinely distraught at the change of events. He had meant for the threat of an arrest to get the Order to cave and do something stupid so that he could suspend them and bully them into terms he wanted. He had not anticipated that Leila Potter would challenge him.

Yaxley, looking gleeful, got up, went around the hesitating Order members and pulled her off her seat roughly and pointed his wand at her hand. Chains fastened around her wrists. He grabbed her wand and carelessly tossed it to Scrimgeour, who caught it, looking resigned.

James and Sirius were both instantly on either side of him, their wands pressed tightly to his neck, looking like Death incarnates.

"Potter, Black, stand down. Now. You're not doing her any favours." commanded Kingsley, hoping they'd listen. They turned to stare at him in disbelief but grit their teeth and lowered their wands. There was no point getting Leila into any more trouble. Kingsley hated what was happening but like Leila, he saw past his rage and realized that playing into their hands would only make things worse for all of them.

_"Why didn't you tell any of us about Zabini, Leila?"_ he though despairingly. He looked at her and felt terrible that he couldn't and wouldn't let James and Sirius do something either. But he could keep an eye on her in Carlisle. James and Sirius were clearly thinking the same thing. He could practically see the cogs turning in their brains, as they worked out a hundred different strategies to protect her there and possibly break her out.

"Carlisle, I presume?" said Kingsley coldly to Yaxley. "You're going to need an Auror escort out of here to the holding."

The Department of the Magical Law Enforcement floor was the only section of the Ministry that could not be directly portkeyed into or out of for security reasons and it was compulsory to have an Auror escort prisoners to the selected holding. Kingsley saw his opportunity to be able to get Leila out of the mess and or if that failed, at least keep her safe during the transition and put her in secluded holding, away from the crazy prisoners who would kill her over the course of her incarceration.

Yaxley smiled and nodded at Scrimgeour who looked tired. He resignedly tossed Yaxley a bronze medallion with his official seal on it,. Yaxley caught it and pressed it into Leila's hand and looked up, smiling at the three of them eerily. Kingsley went cold. The medallion, with the seal from the highest authority, was an override spell over existing restrictive enchantments.

_"No, No, No..."_

"I think it's best you don't know, Auror Shacklebolt. We wouldn't want you or the fine Aurors next you trying anything stupid, would we?" His tone was mocking.

Scrimgeour looked at him, startled. "Wait a minute, Yaxley! You said it was to get her to _Carlisle_ instantly, without interference from the Order-"

They vanished before any of them could truly comprehended what was going on, leaving behind a very horrified Kingsley, James and Sirius, who suddenly realized that _this_ had been the real trap. Scrimgeour was staring at the spot where they stood, his stomach dropping. He had made a terrible, terrible mistake.

It had been two days, although Leila lost count. She'd been chained to the wall and left there in the cold. It was snowing, wherever they were and the stone walls and the open grated windows were literally causing her to freeze.

She'd known instantly that this was no Ministry prison. This was a Death Eater holding. And she realized that Yaxley had no intention of returning. He had served his purpose in the Ministry and now, he would don his Death Eater robes permanently. He had delivered her to Voldemort.

He'd chained her, laughing a tad hysterically.

"Ah, Potter, the Dark Lord was right. He predicted that you would walk into it willingly if you thought the Order of the Phoenix would pay the price for defying me. You do realize Scrimgeour would've never allowed the trial to go ahead, don't you? He's a fan of yours, Potter. He just doesn't like the Order. Pity, pity."

He laughed again as he tightened the chains, making her feel like the blood supply to some parts of her body were being cut off.

"And Zabini was a fantastic piece of luck for us. We wanted to just get that whimpering mutt and use him to send a message to rest of the purebloods of his generation, reminding them of what would happen of they deflected. But by Hades, we made him scream and scream and scream and you know what he did, Potter? He sobbed _your_ name. He was incoherent, out of his mind by then. And it was your name he called."

Yaxley grinned at her ashen face.

"Obviously, we had to know what that was all about and informed the Dark Lord. He showed me what he saw in the boy's mind..." Yaxley stepped up very close to her and appreciatively ran his hands over her shaking body. Leila shuddered in disgust, trying to pull away from him, but the chains held her in place.

Yaxley smiled at her. "Ah Potter, Zabini thought you are exquisite and I have to say, that might be the only thing the boy and I agreed on. It is a shame I don't touch filthy halfbloods else this might've been a more enjoyable prisoner holding duty for me." He shoved her back hard and hit her viciously around the face. Leila could feel the bruises form on her cheek immediately. But she looked back at him, defiant.

He threw back his head and laughed. "I do like that spirit of yours. I'm going to enjoy watching the Dark Lord break you. And when I finally drop off your dead body where the Aurors can find it, I have to say, I'm going to stand nearby and watch your parents break too. Three for the price of one. I do love a good deal!"

But Yaxley had to wait for his show. Luck was on her side because Lord Voldemort was currently in Peru, terrorizing the local leader into handing over a dark Incan artefact and would return to England in a few days.

Two days of being chained up in the cold in god-only-knows-where, with Yaxley showing up occasionally to taunt her, with frost bites and her blood circulation slowing, Leila thought that she was going to be dead even before Voldemort got here. Her dulled, brittle mind took small comfort in imagining the expression on his face when he showed up to find his arch nemesis dead. Knowing Voldemort, he would be extremely pissed off. He liked to play with his food and she was the meal he had wanted for years.

The Order had no idea where she was, neither did Scrimgeour. This would be the end.

Leila would later ponder the greatness of sheer, dumb luck later at what happened next.

Yaxley hadn't been around at the time and Leila was slowly giving up. She wished Voldemort would show up already and kill her. She was bleeding from the chain cutting into her wrists and she sagged against them helplessly, tired and thirsty. Her arms slipped loosely through the manacles, the blood reducing the friction. Her addled brain suddenly focused on this and she started to tug and pull her hands out, her numb body shutting out the nerve receptors that would've alerted her to how painful the whole thing was. She tugged for ages before she pulled out one hand. A sudden burst of elation sliced through her fatigue and she vigorously pulled the other hand out. Her hands free, she pulled the chains away and soon she was free. She took a step forward and she fell, her legs shaking, her vision blurry and her entire body ravaged by the cold.

She stayed still, her euphoria dying out. She was too weak to move and she was in the heart of some snowed in landscape and wandless. She heard the door being thrown open and Yaxley come in. At the sight of her prone body on the floor, the chains lying next to her, he let out a roar and stormed to where she was.

He grabbed her and turned her around and towered over her, furious and sneering. Her instincts kicked in and she raised her knee suddenly, jamming it straight into his crotch. The suddenness of the attack and the sensitivity of the region she hit made him howl in pain. His scream jerked Leila to action. She grabbed his wand and twisted it away. Pointing it at him, she rasped, "Petrificous Totalus."

His body went rigid and he fell back on the floor. Leila got up and swayed dangerously, his wand still in her hand. She stumbled to where he lay and stared down. In a rush of hatred, she pointed her wand at his face and whispered, "Sectumsempra."

His face was slashed diagonally, cutting through an eye. He couldn't even scream because he was petrified. But she could see his agony in his other eye.

"Incendium." she whispered. The untouched part of his face burst into flame and his mouth opened in a silent scream. Leila loomed over him and held out her hand over his face, letting the warmth hit her fingers. The flames died, his face still burning.

"That," she said to him hoarsely, "was for Blaise."

Then she pointed at his hands and whispered, "Reducto."

His hands literally exploded and his petrified body trembled volently. "And that, was what you put me through, for making a mockery of Blaise and I in front of my family, for dragging me here and chaining me and for touching me. Consider this a lesson in consent and human decency. I hope you die in the cold, bleeding and burning, wishing you could scream, feeling every bit of the agony you inflicted on Blaise."

She turned and stumbled out of there, pointing her wand in front of her and launching herself out of the stone cabin.

The Arctic winds howled and she fell with every other step she took.

"Conflergo, conflergo..." she repeated over and over again but the giant flames died out every time she cast them, the winds too strong and her battered body casting weak spells that could not hold out against the elements.

She slipped and fell down a deep slope. The snow sloshed around her and in the mess, she lost her grip on the wand. She finally reached the bottom and lay sprawled in a thicket of evergreen pine trees. It was darker down there and she was now soaked with slushy snow.

Her body slumped and the darkness started taking over.

_"That was a pointless escape. The cabin was warmer." _was her last sane thought.

The twigs nearby snapped, a giant paw stepping on them. Leila looked up blearily, unsure of what she had heard.

It was gigantic wolf and it slowly advanced on her, the smell of her blood still fresh on her person, drawing it to her.

Leila's not-so-lucid brain cheered at the sight.

"Sirius?" she whispered, reaching her hand out to the creature.

The creature's wild instincts read it as an attack and with a howl, leaped at her.

She finally caved to the darkness as a single gunshot was heard, hitting the wolf mid-leap, right in its head.


	30. Chapter 30

It had been two weeks since she was taken from them.

Everyone was starting to think she was probably dead. But Dumbledore quietly pointed out that if Voldemort had killed her, he'd have let them know. There was no way he wouldn't rub it in their faces.

It gave them the smallest bit of hope to hold on to but it also made them wonder forlornly what they could be doing to her in the meantime if they hadn't killed her.

Ron and Hermione had moved back to Grimmauld Place permanently.

"No matter what kind of mess she gets into, she's always had at least one of us by her side. She's alone now and stuck with a crazy Death Eater. So don't fucking tell us to go back and wait for news. Tell us what to do so we can get her back." said Ron furiously to Remus.

Remus's shoulders slumped and he nodded wearily at them. He handed them a list of all the known Death Eater strongholds and asked them corroborate incoming reports from muggle law enforcement of unusual activities around those locations. It was a long shot but something was better than nothing.

Remus went into the room to find Lily pouring over maps, her face tight.

"Lily, get some sleep. I'll wake you-"

"No."

"You're not going to help her if you exhaust yourself to the point of death. We have nothing now-"

"Don't say that. Don't you dare say that." she hissed at him, pale and furious. Remus swallowed the lump in his throat. He was messed up as much as any of them but with Lily, James and Sirius not being able to keep it together, he was forced to and it was taking a terrible toll on him.

"Lily, please." he pleaded softly. "Let her come back home to everyone with their sanity intact, not half crazed out of their minds. She will come back to us, I promise you."

Lily's shoulders shook with her sobs. Remus put his arms around her and held her gently.

"Let me tell you something about that kid of yours - she has this unbelievable ability to get out of any mess. She's strong, Lils. Stronger than any of us. Just you see." he whispered, trying to convince himself as much as her.

Remus took the folder away from her and led her upstairs. Remus stayed there with her till she fell into a disturbed sleep and turned away, unable to watch.

Dumbledore had descended on all of them, especially Scrimgeour, radiating wrath and cold anger, reminding everybody exactly why he was the most powerful wizard and why even Voldemort was afraid of him. His anger had made everyone back away against the wall in fear.

He had even bitterly turned on a pale, exhausted James whose insides burned with fear for his missing daughter.

"You were very eloquent about our failure to protect her, weren't you James? It would have been nice if your demonstration of how to do it effectively had been successful." said Dumbledore to him, coldly. It was uncharacteristic of him to take a pot shot but he was enraged at the fact that three Order members were right in front of her when she was taken. His anger was further compounded when Scrimgeour tried to reason with him.

"You were put in charge of the wizarding community in England because we thought you had some sense. I'm not often wrong but it turns out, this time around, I have been proved mistaken." said Dumbledore angrily, making Scrimgeour feel even worse.

Kingsley directed the entire Auror department's efforts on finding Leila. But Voldemort started a new spate of attacks around the country, propelled by some sort of fury and the Aurors had to attend to those as well. Remus personally took that as a good sign. If Voldemort had gotten hold of Leila, he would be in a _good_ mood.

Kingsley, nevertheless, grouped Sirius, James, Alice, Frank and Tonks to have their own task force solely to find Leila.

The only thing good that came out of all of this was Scrimgeour's remorse and his determination to help them. He finally seemed to have realized just how handicapped his Ministry was, filled with people he could not trust and he had turned to the Order, despairing and apologetic, promising to help in any way he could. But the Order was collectively too furious to deal with him, choosing to shut him out, making him even more desperate to make things right. He started locking himself in his office, paranoid, not knowing who to trust any more, becoming secretive and keeping his thoughts to himself and subjects his advisers and staff to more scrutiny.

Lily was having a stand-off with Sirius and James, making things worse. She had been furious with them over what happened. While she didn't blame them outright, she had been enraged that they had sat by during the questioning, letting Leila face that. They, in turn, were infuriated with her when she claimed Zabini's body the next day when no one else did and gave him a quiet, respectable burial.

"Isn't it bad enough that Leila involved herself with him? Is this your way of punishing me, Lily?" fumed James.

Lily's look of disgust would've made a goblin flush in shame.

"He's a boy, young, like Leila. And innocent. He doesn't deserve your anger. He was her friend and she cared about him. She would've done the same if she were here."

"Yes, doing things with and for Zabini is on her repertoire." said James, bitterly, making Lily tense up. It was an unspoken rule between them not to bring up Leila and Zabini's afternoon together at St Mungo's.

Lily pursed her lips and stared him down. "She-I... We don't know anything for sure. And even if she did, well, it can't be undone."

James twitched violently at her words, trying banish the mental images of his daughter in the boy's arms.

"How could you be so careless and not have any idea what she was up to? She was in Mungo's, with _you_..." he spat.

Lily turned away, her own guilt crushing her. "And she was with _you_ in the Ministry when she was kidnapped by a Death Eater that the Prime Minister apparently did a thorough background check on." she said flatly.

That shut him up.

Remus wished James was here now, as he glanced at Lily's trembling form as she struggled to sleep. Even when they fought, Lily and James had a way of comforting each other and right now, they needed one another.

But James was never in. He was running himself to the ground, rushing to every corner of the country, roughing up every Death Eater in custody, desperate for a crumb, for anything that would lead him to Leila.

Remus sighed and left, unable to be near her and not help in any way. He started back down to check on Ron and Hermione. Those two were faring no better and needed to be reminded to eat and sleep.

He paused outside Leila and Regulus's room, his heart heavy. Allowing himself a moment to fall apart, he pushed the door open, his terror, grief and longing for her tiding over his mental barriers, making him feel old and weary. He stopped and gazed at the person slumped over her desk.

Remus pushed back his own grief immediately. He needed to be the strong one again because the prone, still form of Sirius was disconcerting. Remus placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and gently squeezed.

"Come down. Please. Destroying yourself is not going to help her."

Sirius didn't respond. Remus felt his heart sink. Of all of them, Sirius worried him the most. After his initial outburst of white, hot rage which led him to attack Umbridge, Scrimgeour and the wizards from the Prime Minister's personal guard who were in the room, as shocked as any of them, he had descended to a state of thick silence, obsessively combing through every report, following up on every lead, disappearing for hours with no contact. He didn't talk any more. He was silent, grief stricken, helpless and when he wasn't razing the country like James looking for information, he stayed in Leila's room, silent and unseeing.

"Padfoot, please. She'd hate to see you like this. She's going to come home soon. You need to keep it together for her." Remus found himself listlessly parroting the same lines he said to everyone, slowly ceasing to believe it himself.

Sirius looked up at him and Remus's grip on his shoulder tightened reflexively, alarmed by what he was seeing. Sirius looked so empty and diminished.

"Why? Why would she do that?"

Remus had no idea what he was talking about.

"Do what?" he asked warily.

"Zabini. I know she didn't love him like she did Diggory. Why did she do it?"

Remus stared at him in shock and disbelieving anger. "She's missing, in grave danger and _that _is the question in your head?"

Sirius clenched his fists, guilt and anger warring in his face. "None of this would've happened if she hadn't-"

"That's bollocks. Yaxley needed an excuse and he got one. Zabini was attacked for reasons that probably had nothing to do with Leila. It was her bad luck that it gave them a something to use against her."

"But why? Why would she even do that?" asked Sirius, his voice raw with pain.

"Surely, surely it isn't hard to see why." said Remus softly.

Sirius said quietly. "Is it that obvious? Because I don't see it."

"Padfoot, she's fifteen. How many of us had sex with someone we _loved_ at that age?"

Sirius clenched his fist tightly, his knuckled turning white. "DON'T!" he spat. "Don't say that! Leila didn't... she wouldn't... I mean, just..." His conflicted expression gave way to a tortured one. "She's not one of those girls I would... I used to... She's... She's _my_ Leila... Zabini used her! He touched her and ... and..."

Remus exhaled and said softly, "Nobody_ used_ her. The very fact that you even think that is a mark of your hypocrisy. She's as old as you were when you started cavorting with every girl who would throw herself at you and just as you didn't think there was anything wrong with that, neither does she and rightly so. Just because she's had her personal life dragged through the mud while we could leave ours hidden in dark broom closets in school should not make her susceptible to judgement. You, of all the people, should be supporting her decision to be with Blaise or anybody she sees fit."

Sirius shoved the desk abruptly, stood up and turned away, walking to the window and stared unseeingly at the walls of the house adjacent to theirs.

Remus pursed his lips and continued, "She's been locked up here, trapped. We don't know what the prophecy said but I'm sure it wasn't good news for her. She's been cooped up, alone and we were all giving her a hard time about Snape. And she found her old friend, unexpectedly. Blaise seems to have had his own crisis at the time. Is it that surprising that they chose to find comfort in each other? And this would've been a non-issue if it hadn't taken such an ugly turn with his death and Yaxley."

"So it's our fault she went to him? Is it _my_ fault? I turned against her, I wasn't there..." Sirius said so softly, almost talking to himself.

"It doesn't matter. I don't see why you're even thinking about this, why any of you are." said Remus tiredly. He had been furious when it actually became a point of discussion among the Order. It was something personal and he shuddered at the thought of how Leila would feel, how she must have already felt, having her private moments paraded out in front of everyone and sullied.

The Order was struggling to uncover any trail that would lead them to Leila. The news died out and now all they had were theories. Finally, Mad Eye couldn't stand it and unable to sit and worry about his favourite student any more, he left to handle some disturbances in Russia and continue his chase of Karakoff and some of Grindelwald's old followers who were grouping together under Voldemort's banner.

In Spinner's End, another man worried about his protégée although he refused to cave to his helplessness. He was actively mapping out old Death Eater strongholds and keeping his ear to the ground. And that's when he heard about the body the Russian muggle authorities found in a stone cabin, miles from the city of Petrozavodsk.

He remembered that Petrozavodsk was a regular stopping point when Karakoff was rallying his men to fight the Northern European front for Voldemort.

Yaxley hadn't been a Death Eater at the time but he might have heard about the abandoned strongholds and thought it safe because the Russian arm of the Death Eaters had moved further up north to Arkhangelsk when the Order cracked down on St Petersburg and Moscow, with the help of the Russian Magical Ministry. Nobody, be it the Death Eaters, the Order or the Ministry of Magic would have thought to look there.

He apparated and winced at the chilly wind. It was March and it was still bitingly cold, although brighter in comparision to the bleak, grey skies of England.

He located the stone cabin and looked around. He went in and found that it had been cleared, possibly by the muggle authorities. He scowled in frustration. He straightened up when he heard a sound behind him and turned, his wand out. No one was there but Snape could sense someone else. He inched slowly to the door and waited. It was thrown open and Alastor Moody rushed at him, looking furious.

A brief duel later, the two off them stood face to face, glaring at each other as they realized who it was they were fighting with.

"Snape." snarled Moody, making no move to lower his wand.

"Moody." said Snape, lowering his and looking at him disdainfully. He had better things to do than get into a tussle with one of Order members.

"Lurking around your old hideouts, are you?"

Snape gave him a look of loathing. "And you're sneaking around waiting to have the rest of your nose blown off, are you?"

"What are you doing here, Snape?"

"Same as you, Moody."

"Dumbledore sent you after Karakoff?"

Snape frowned at him. "I'm here about Leila Potter. They found a body here."

Moody dropped his wand arm and stared at him. "Leila? Here? But why?"

Snape quickly gave him his theory, impatient to get him off his back and head off.

Moody looked grim. "We need to see if that body is hers." He sounded gruff.

Snape rolled his eyes. "The report said it was a male. I have higher faith in Potter's abilities to get out of a jam. I'm willing to bet it was Yaxley."

Moody looked keen. "How do we verify?"

"I'm going to go and retrieve the reports from the Petrozavodsk muggle police. It's a good place to start. I can also pilfer the evidence locker."

Moody narrowed his eyes. "Petrozavodsk? I wonder..."

"What is it?"

"Our friends at the Russian Ministry for Magic at St Petersburg sent word this morning that Karakoff was seen heading that direction. He looked like he was in a hurry. They've been tailing him for a while now and they say this is the first time in years he's headed that way."

Snape looked at him speculatively. "Voldemort, as well as the Order and the Ministry, is out for his blood and the last place he would go is Petrozavodsk. It's too easy to be spotted there with the Russian Magical Community's significant presence there. It would be foolish and Karakoff is no fool. It has to be something big, something worth the risk."

"Something like Leila Potter?"

They both set off together, silently, neither thrilled at the spontaneous partnership but deciding to put their differences aside because even if Leila had escaped, they had no idea where she was and there was a probability that she was walking straight into the hands of a Death Eater on the run.

The girl in question was having a rather surreal couple of weeks. She had woken up in a warm cabin, struggling to remember where she was, the last few hours of her pre-blackout completely lost to her. She remembered vague, delirious moments of waking up and screaming in pain or feeling so heavy lidded she couldn't move.

She woke up properly one afternoon, feeling very disoriented and light headed. It was the feeling of having a heavy fever broken. She frowned, looked around, noticing she was in a warm, wooden cabin that was sparsely furnished. The bed she was on was a basic, wooden one with a thin, frayed mattress and her blanket was a heavy fur one, possibly wolf fur. She tried to sit up and her body felt weighed down and exhausted. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to collect herself. Almost magically (which it probably was, she reminded herself) she belt better and more energetic. Her head cleared and her body eased up.

She continued taking deep, long breaths, trying to force the hazy memories in her brain to surface, to help her put them in chronological order. She shuddered as she remembered what she did to Yaxley in her delirious, half crazed state. She couldn't entirely bring herself to regret it, especially when she thought about Blaise but she couldn't help feel a bit rattled when she thought of the monster hidden deep inside her, lashing out when she was pushed too far.

Pushing the disturbing thoughts away and forcing herself to figure out where she was, she looked around at the rough, warm cabin. She remembered the wolf and the gunshot and blinked in confusion.

Only muggles would own guns. It was most likely a hunter who had happened upon her and saved her at the nick of the time.

When she heard footsteps, she instinctively jumped up, still thinking about Yaxley and guns. She promptly collapsed, her blood rushing too quickly to her feet.

She looked up the footstep owner and found a wary looking, matronly old muggle lady. The woman was giving her a look that suggested both concern and the belief that she was dealing with a lunatic. Leila sat up and gave her an apologetic look as the rest of her hazy memories cleared up. She must be in the gun owner's house.

The woman said something to her in a language she didn't recognize. Leila wasn't sure but it could be Russian. _"Or Romanian or Serbian or Hungarian or Bulgarian..."_ she thought grimly.

The woman seemed to have realized Leila had no idea what she was talking about and seemed to try a different dialect. _"It could be Finnish for all I know."_

The woman finally gave up after getting nothing but blank looks. Leila stood up, forcing herself to stand upright and tried to look as apologetic and friendly as possible.

The woman frowned a bit and nodded. She gestured to her and made a hand gesture as if to say 'how are you'.

Leila thought for a second and held out a thumbs up, wondering if that was a universal gesture.

It was hard to tell because the woman didn't react discernibly. She indicated that Leila follow her, which she did rather gingerly. Her body protested at any movement but she forced herself to stay upright and move, pushing her limbs to start working again. She stepped into another slightly larger room where the table was laid out with bread and meat. The woman impatiently gestured at it. Leila gave her a grateful look and sat down tentatively. She ate in silence, often looking up at the woman, her eyes filled with tears. She was hungry and after her two long days with Yaxley and her memories of her night at the Ministry of Magic and Blaise's body, she was feeling very emotionally raw.

The woman's eyes softened and she reached out and lightly patted her arm. Leila hastily wiped her tears and gave her a watery smile. The food returned her strength and by the time she wolfed down everything on her plate, she started to feel almost normal. This didn't go unnoticed by the woman who was giving her a strange look. Leila tried to look a little less better because she knew by muggle standards, her recovery was unbelievable. She guessed she must have spent days in bed in a fever and to wake up finally and look almost normal after eating an entire meal had to be puzzling for the old woman.

The woman quietly cleared the table, leaving Leila to herself. She looked down and she noticed she was wearing a thick, khakhi shirt and trouser, which looked like they were cut out for a man much bigger than her. It looked like army issue. The sleeves and legs were rolled up multiple times and it was belted around her waist with a thick chord.

She examined her fingers and winced at the damaged blue-ish spots from the frostbite although she could see that they were fading. She was healing, either naturally or because of the magic in her. Either way, she was relieved. The last thing she needed now was to have her hand amputated.

She hesitantly got up and looked at mirror above the roughly carved fireplace. She looked pale and the bruise on her cheek was stark. Her lip was cut and her hair was a mess. But she didn't look as bad as she expected and it was a relief. It was indicative that whatever damage had occurred was healing. She turned away and looked around the house curiously. There were stuffed bear heads and wolf skins everywhere. Various guns were mounted on the wall.

The woman returned and looked at her with pursed lips, trying to figure something out. Finally she pointed at herself and said, "Uliana."

Leila pointed to herself and said, "Leila."

Uliana frowned slightly, trying to place the origin of the name. It wasn't Slavic and Leila knew it was confusing her.

Leila looked around and spotted an old map of north Europe pinned to the wall. She went up to it and pointed at it, then at the ground and then spread out her palm as if to ask 'where'?

The woman now looked distinctly uncomfortable. She slowly went up to the map and spread it open and pointed to an approximate location. Leila noted that they were hundreds of miles from St Petersburg.

_"So Russia it is._" thought Leila, relieved that she at least knew where she was. Now that the question was answered she realized she was stumped about how the hell she was going to get out of there. She had no money, no wand, nothing. She looked again and noted that the nearest city was Petrozavodsk. Her mind whirring, she worked out the possibilities. She turned to the woman and pointed at the map again, at Petrozavodsk.

The woman shook her head, looking confused.

Leila said, "Um.. How do I get there?" wondering if she would understand from the tone of her question.

Uliana's eyes instantly narrowed in hostility. Leila was taken aback at her sudden change in attitude. She kept backing away from Leila like she had encountered an angry bear and she demanded, "Angliyisky?"

Leila nodded, still puzzled. Her affirmation sent the woman out of the house, calling after someone, "Nikolai!"

Leila stared after her, guessing that Nikolai must be the hunter who had saved her, puzzled by her behaviour and then it clicked. The woman probably thought she was a spy or a fugitive. There was no other logical explanation as to why a foreign girl, especially English or American, would randomly appeared in the neck of Russian woods by herself, looking like she had been beaten up and running from something.

_"Oh crap!"_ she thought, alarmed. She ran back to the room and grabbed the wolfskin blanket. She shoved her feet into a pair heavy rubber boots that could've been the woman's. It was too big for her but Leila didn't have the time to worry about it. Almost out of the house, she paused and grabbed the nearest gun - an automatic handgun. She ran out of there, desperate to get out and fighting down guilt that she had rewarded the woman's kindness by stealing from her.

_"Not the moment for remorse, Potter. If they set the KGB on you, you're really dead meat." _she told herself firmly, hoping the hunter didn't follow her. She suspected anybody who was accused of helping foreign spies would also be severely punished under charges of treason and she hoped they would let her flee and forget about her like she was a bad dream.

She ran as fast as she could, her loose boots flapping miserably. But the thick, studded soles kept her from slipping on the ice. She wrapped the blanket tightly around her, shoved her gun into her large pockets and ran till she went deep into the forest. She kept glancing at the sky, trying to work out which way it was moving across the horizon. She briefly remembered the map and recalled that if she kept heading east, she'd hit a large water body, possibly a lake and if she walked along the banks, at some point she would get near Petrodozavodsk.

She baulked at the thought of going further north clad in nothing but army issue clothes and a wolfskin blanket, armed with only a gun. It looked like it would take at least two days and she had a feeling the woods were thick with more wolves and bears and angry hunters. She had no way of lighting a fire and the melting snow made the wood and flint damp, so she couldn't go caveman style and try sparking it either.

_"One problem at a time. I have to keep walking when there's light. It'll become sub zero once the sun sets and then I'm screwed. It's still February so I don't have much daylight left."_

It then occurred to her that she had no idea if it was February. She had no idea how long she had been stuck with Yaxley or how long she had been unconscious at the hunter's cabin.

_"Well, it isn't spring yet so unless I've been out cold for a year, not very long."_

The first night was the worst. The adrenaline that had helped her run from the cabin drained away and she collapsed, her weak body protesting at the strenuous trek. Leila knew she shouldn't push it, that only fear and survival instincts were propelling her ahead. She managed to make it to the lake before dark but she regretted it because it was freezing. She huddled pitifully under a tree, bundled up under her wolfskin, freezing. She suspected her magic was doing its thing because a normal human being would be more than just very cold. They'd have hypothermia. She examined her gun and found it was fully loaded, with the safety on. She developed a new found respect for BBC crime shows and was grateful that Aunt Petunia insisted on watching all of them. They turned out to be surprisingly informative on how to handle guns, in theory. She didn't want to think about how she'd fare if she actually had to use it.

She drifted between sleep and consciousness, her mind going back to Yaxley and what she did to him. She thought about Blaise and she stared at her ring, miraculously still on her finger.

_"Home. Must get home, somehow. Must find my way to Mum, Dad and Remus. I have to go back to Sirius."_ she thought anxiously, her hazy mind throwing up half formed, un-executable ideas. She wished Ron and Hermione were here. The three of them always managed to get themselves out of bad situations and she felt incapable and useless without them.

The surrounding woods were viciously dark and howls and growls emanated from it all through the night, instilling fear in her. It gave her the strength to get through the night. But her fragile health deteriorated in the cold and hunger as her body burned sugar to keep her warm. Her skin was clammy, her limbs numb and her eyes felt heavy.

She stumbled blindly through the forest at sunrise, trying to steer her direction using the weak sunlight filtering through the grey clouds but by mid day, she was convinced she was lost. Out of her mind with hunger, she turned to the woods, and pointed her gun randomly at the various trees and any shadow that happened to catch the periphery of her vision. She finally happened upon a rabbit and she fired her gun wildly. The recoil shocked her and she fell back. Her bullet missed and the rabbit scampered away, the echo of the loud shot ringing in her ears.

The devouring fear of being stuck without any weapon kept her from trying again, unwilling to waste any more bullets.

_"I'm going to die here, in this miserable, cold, dark forest. I'm going to die all alone, out of hunger and exhaustion. So much for fighting Voldemort."_ she though, crumpling to the ground and the sun began to set.

Utterly exhausted and fed up, death nearing her crumpled form, the Universe cut her a break. She heard voices nearby and her eyes widened. Assuming hostile probabilities, she slowly crawled behind a clump of trees and stopped, her weakening heart racing in excitement. The shadow that preceded the voices looked like multiple men but Leila couldn't help thinking there was something strange about them. They slowly came into view and Leila almost passed out in shock.

They were tall, hairy and fierce. And predatory. One of them stopped and raised his nose slightly and sniffed the air and frowned a bit, his bushy eyebrows half obstructing his narrowed eyes. Leila shrunk back, and remembered, too late, to hold her breath.

She heard the other two stop walking as well and say something to their third companion. Their voices were thick and their words obscured by a low growling undertone although Leila wouldn't have understood anyway as they were clearly speaking Russian.

She shrunk weakly into the trunk of the tree she was leaning on, hearing the footsteps come closer. She shut her eyes and prayed in vain for them to leave her be and continue their way.

Their voices sounded right in front of her and she opened her eyes in alarm. The three of them leered down at her and instinctively, her mind quickly calibrated all the possibilities and threw up the most likely one.

_"Werewolf."_

She had never met any werewolf apart from Remus but her eavesdropping on the Order and listening in to him recounting his meetings with them was lesson enough on how much of an anomaly her guardian was among his fellow creatures.

These ones would chew her alive and spit out her bones, happily.

She struggled to meet their gleeful gazes, frantically wondering when full moon was. The tallest one among them, presumably their leader, reached out a large arm to her, his filthy long nails caked with dirt and blood.

Leila shrank back, and turned her face. The weak sunlight glinted off her forehead, exposed by her damp hair being roughly combed back by her fidgety fingers over the day. Her lightening scar glinted in the weak light and his hands froze mid-air.

All three men began whispering frantically, much to Leila's trepidation as she was unaware of the source of their excitement. She tentatively peeked up at them and found that they were staring at her in awe. Before she could fully comprehend their expressions, she was pulled up and held upright by tallest one.

"Potter." he proclaimed in a heavily accented voice.

Leila warred with herself. She had no idea if this was a good thing or bad. Deciding that she ought to take a chance rather than die out here in the cold, she nodded.

The three exchanged looks and turned back to stare at her.

The one at the right was saying something to the leader, urgently. He was scowling heavily and gesturing in a way that made Leila think she was in a lot of trouble. But the leader seemed to be eyeing her with a benign look, almost keenly. Nodding to himself, he barked a quick command to the one who was talking furiously, shutting him up immediately.

He then grabbed her arm, pulling her to him and effortlessly swung her on his back and started walking.

Leila knew she wasn't in danger any more. Not yet anyway. Her body caved and her world went dark.

It was hours before she woke up again and she looked around, feeling feverish and disoriented. She was wrapped tightly in her wolfskin and placed on a hardwood floor. She sat up, struggling with the tightly wrapped fur, managing to pull it off and listen for sounds.

It was eerily quiet. She frowned at the stone walls and pondered the empty feeling of the place. Her mouth was dry and she was still sick and the air was still sharp and cold, indicating that they were probably still around the woods she had been wandering around in.

She sat up and huddled against the wall, feeling rather bleak. She felt a bit like a ping pong ball, being batted back and forth between bizarre situations.

She heard footsteps heading her way and she looked up, half hopeful and half wary.

It was the tall leader. They both stared at each other till he finally pointed at himself and said, "Dimitriv."

Leila hesitated for a minute and then pointed at herself and said, "Leila." irresistibly reminded of the exact same scene the day before with the muggle woman.

But Dimitriv, unlike the woman, nodded, his face breaking into a slight smile.

She paused, wondering just how far his friendliness stretched. She tentatively said, "Werewolf?" He frowned a bit at the word, not understanding. She gestured at the wolfskin and then at the window where the night sky was stark in its darkness. He understood and nodded.

Leila exhaled slowly, feeling a bit dizzy. She pondered her next move. Werewolves hated magical people.

Dimitriv looked at her, his eyes burning with curiosity. Something in his face seemed to indicate a resolve and he got up and disappeared. He reappeared shortly with a plate of roughly cut smoked meat and handed it to her. Leila gratefully ate it, stopping to whisper her gratitude. He nodded, understanding her blubbering 'thank you's and sat cross legged in front of her, observing her. After she was done, he gestured for her to get up and led her to a small outhouse outside the stone cabin and pointed at it. She hesitantly went in and found that a rough wooden makeshift tub was filled with water. She touched the surface and winced at how cold it was. Dimitriv was watching her from the door. He nodded at the water and at the pile of clothes at the foot of it and raised his eyebrows at her.

She hesitated and fidgeted, looking grateful but going red. He looked confused then his expression cleared and he turned around. Leila waited for him to leave but he didn't, standing stone still at the doorway, his back to her. Her escape route was cut off, not that she had the strength or desire to run out into the dark woods by herself.

Leila pursed her lips then deciding that modesty was least of her issues at the moment, hastily pulled off all her clothes. She noted that her gun was still in her pocket. Either the werewolves had no idea what it was or they didn't care. She supposed it was the latter. These werewolves were wild and well built, partly wolfish even on normal days because of their refusal to tame their instincts the way Remus did. They would rip her to pieces if she as much as tried to point it at them. She ducked into the water, shuddering violently at the cold, keeping an eye on the still werewolf at the door, who kept his back to her.

She quickly washed up, feeling half her sickness drain away, despite the chilly water, as she cleaned up. She jumped out and looked for something to dry herself with. On finding nothing, she reached for the pile of clothes he had pointed at and pulled them on. It was logger ensemble - a large thick shirt and trousers made of rough animal hide, both several sizes too big for her. She grabbed the chord off her old khakhi pants and fastened it around her waist to keep the new pants from slipping off her waist.

She also retrieved the gun and shoved it into her pocket, feeling a tiny bit better. The clothes hung loosely around her body , sticking in patches on her wet skin. She reached for her wolfskin and wrapped herself with it and went up to Dimitriv, feeling like a child, vulnerable and lost. He glanced up as she reached his side and nodded in an approving sort of way. She supposed it might have something to do her possibly looking less like road-kill now.

They walked silently back to the stone cabin and Leila looked around properly. There was nothing in the cabin, just a few demolished furniture pieces. The stone walls had claw marks as did the doors. Leila figured this must be his home and she looked at the large man in curiosity, trying to imagine his bleak life.

The other man came in, not bothering to look at her. Dimitriv asked him something to which he shrugged and frowned. Dimitriv looked displeased. Leila looked around for the third man, the one who had been angry with her but she couldn't find him. She wondered if his absence was the reason Dimitriv was annoyed.

Dimitriv gestured to his companion and said to Leila, "Borya."

"Borya." she repeated. The man named Borya looked at her with a slight frown, shook his head. His distrust was blindingly apparent. It made her nervous.

She cleared her throat and said softly to Dimitriv who had gone back to staring at her, "Petrozavodsk?"

Dimitriv and Borya exchanged a long look and Leila thought she saw something pass between them.

"Magik!" he growled. Leila realized that he wouldn't go there because it probably had a sizeable wizarding population - people werewolves did not consort with.

Leila bit her lip and then pointed at herself and said, "I'm Magik too."

Borya snorted while Dimitriv nodded his head and said, "Leila Potter."

Leila exhaled and wished she knew what all of it meant. She knelt next to him and looked at him beseechingly.

"Please. I have to go home." she pleaded.

He stared at her. Borya looked between them with interest.

Leila tried again. "Angliyisky. Home."

Dimitriv looked uncertain for a second then his expression straightened out. He shook his head and turned to Borya and said something rapidly in Russian. Leila tried hard to catch familiar words but she drew a complete blank.

The other man looked deeply disapproving. "Dimitriv!" he admonished.

Dimitriv and him exchanged sharp words, finally ending when Borya threw up his hands in frustration and shook his head in clear resignation. He gave her one last lingering look of distrust and strode out. Dimitriv turned his back to her and stared out of the window. The clouds obstructed the sky and Leila nervously wondered how long she had before the full moon.

She curled up on the floor and squeezed her eyes shut, not knowing what else to do. She was wandless, armed with only a gun that she had no idea how to use properly and she was in the custody of werewolves whose language she did not speak, who were naturally hostile towards magical people and she had no clue when the full moon was. It made her feel hopeless. Dimitriv seemed to be the only thing standing between her and the other two clearly unhappy werewolves and she had no idea why their leader seemed inclined to help her. It made no sense.

_"If they turn me into one of them, at least Remus will have company."_ she thought morosely.

She briefly amused herself with the mental image of Remus and her in their respective werewolf forms, tamed by wolfsbane, sipping tea and having a conversation in wolf-speak as their claws clutched a tea cup.

She fell into a disturbed sleep, filled with dreams of claws and fangs and chains in a cold, dank cabin.

Her worries compounded when Dimitriv shook her awake the next day, looking very pleased with himself, and dragged her away after handing her a thick piece of bread.

Girl and Werewolf, they began their trek to some place that Leila could only hope would somehow lead her back home, this time guided by his nose, his reluctance companion Borya following them. The third man was missing and Leila wondered where he'd disappeared to. Whatever Dimitriv had in mind, he clearly did not want to be a part of it.

They walked in silence, leaving Leila to her thoughts. She wondered about Dimitriv and why he was helping her. Werewolves hated magical people and Leila Potter or not, she saw no reason for him to go out of his way like the way he was doing right now. She couldn't shake the feeling that his apparent kindness was a cover for a more sinister plan.

He stopped her at midday and Borya and him disappeared into the woods, leaving her stranded there, huddling in her wolfskin and her too big shoes, shivering as the cold assaulted her stationary form. She paced to generate heat in her body, feeling faint traces of her fever threatening to resurge. They returned shortly, holding in their hands two bloodied, dead rabbits. Dimitriv tossed one of them at her feet and nodded at her.

Leila stared down in horror. She had gone rabbit hunting too, a day ago. But she had been delirious with fever and hunger. Now that she was a little better, the sight of the dead creature at her feet made her queasy. She bent down and poked at it tentatively, wondering how she was supposed to eat that. She had no knife to skin it with, not that she had any idea how to skin an animal.

Borya let out an exasperated growl. He bent down, grabbed the rabbit and ripped it open with his long claw-like nails and tossed it back at her, the innards gleaming red. Leila groaned internally but decided to man up and eat it or she'd fall sick again. She delicately picked on whatever looked like flesh and forced it down bite by bite, trying her best to ignore the metallic tinge of raw blood and the squashy texture of the uncooked meat.

Leila finally stopped after a few bites, wiping the blood off her lips, thinking grimly that she was going to turn to vegetarianism on her return home.

They walked on without comment till they finally reached the outskirts of a town. Leila had been trying to keep an eye on the sky, trying to follow the sun that kept ducking behind thin, white clouds, to get a bearing on where they were going. To her best knowledge, they seemed to have been heading north-west, just as she had initially. Leila was pretty sure this was Petrozavodsk. Her heart beat faster, with rising hope and apprehension. Her chances of getting home had gone up significantly but the fact that the werewolves had bought her here set off the alarm bells in her head.

She continued to follow them as they went deeper in, towards the city centre, cutting through quiet, winding alley ways and cobbled pathways, avoiding populous squares and main roads with cars.

Leila wondered if she ought to try and make a run for it but she reasoned that her best chances were still with Dimitriv and Borya. She didn't speak a word of Russian, she could never pass off as a tourist or traveller in her bedraggled state and she would encounter the same suspicion that had taken hold of the hunter's wife Uliana. She had no idea where the magical community coalesced in the city and even if she found them, there was no telling if they would be welcoming or hostile. If they were pro-Voldemort, her escape would be rendered pointless.

And it was highly unlikely she could outrun two healthy, powerful werewolves.

She continued to follow them quietly, observing the darkening sky. She finally caught sight of the moon and she struggled not to panic. It was almost completely round. The full moon was a day away, by her best estimate. Remus would always get more restless and wolf-like closer to the full moon and she didn't want to think about the consequences of even accidentally angering her two walking guides, neither of whom looked like that had Remus's soft temperament or his ability to control his lupine instincts.

The sun had almost completely set and Leila could hear the traffic dying out slowly around her. She wished she could go out into the main streets, around people. The lurking in the darkened roads was creeping her out and gave her the impression that nothing good would come out of this.

Dimitriv and Borya finally stopped walking on reaching an abandoned grey, brutalist style building that looked like it might have served as an office of sorts in the Soviet era. Now it stood empty, hidden away from the bustling town centre. Dimitriv held out his hand and stopped her as well and pushed her inside, into a shadowed corner near the thick, framed doors. Feeling edgy, she slipped her hand into her pocket and felt about for her gun and on finding the safety latch, she switched it off. She suspected she was more likely to shoot herself this way but she felt wired and the need to have a weapon ready was overwhelming.

Minutes changed to hours and they waited in silence. Leila finally gave up trying to stand silently, her curiosity insufficient to mask her exhaustion, and she sat down on the floor and put her head between her knees and closed her eyes, trying to regain her strength.

But it turned out to be the wrong thing to do because her body now refused to move at all, overwhelmed with fatigue. She couldn't muster the energy to lift a finger and she stayed still, hoping that whatever was going to happen would do so after a few more hours, allowing her to sleep for a while.

A few minutes later, she heard hurried footsteps. She wanted to raise her head and see what was going on but her body had slipped into a lethargic state and she found that she didn't have the energy to care.

When the new addition to the group began speaking, it was in a hurried manner, in Russian. He sounded terse and excitable and her werewolf companions matched his tone. The conversation was drawn out and Leila frowned as their sentences gradually shortened and all she heard were words that sounded like they could be numbers.

Leila felt a sudden chill run down her spine.

_"Are they... haggling?" _

Leila knew instantly that if they were, she was the commodity they were trading. Her head snapped up and she peered past the darkness of her corner and at the new man. Her blood went cold.

Standing there, his face barely suppressing a smile, was Igor Karakoff.

She gasped out loud and it drew the attention of all three men. Karakoff met her shocked gaze and his smile widened. He nodded at the werewolves and reached into his robe pockets, drew out a bag that jingled and tossed it carelessly at them. He turned back to Leila and said, "I have to say, Potter, it is good to see you."

"Karakoff." she said softly, her throat hurting from the effort it took to speak, struggling to stand up. "The last I heard, you were running from everyone. You're buoyant for a man who's on _everybody'_s wanted list."

"When I hand you over to the Dark Lord, my problems will reduce significantly." he told her serenely. "I will be forgiven and rewarded for finding you for him."

"You didn't find me. They did. You just bartered gold for me."

"How does it matter?" he asked, drawing his wand and pointing it at her. "The Dark Lord will not care to associate with these filthy animals."

"I dare you to say that out loud in Russian so they understand what you just said." she said, nodding in Borya and Dimitriv's direction, both of them looking up from counting their coins, curious at all the English conversation and understanding that something was being said about them.

Karakoff laughed dismissively. His nonchalance was immediately challenged by Dimitriv, who finished counting and let out a displeased snarl. He waved the bag in front of Karakoff's face, stopping to glare at the wand in his hand.

The argument that erupted, as far as Leila could tell, had something to with the amount of gold. At first, Karakoff looked like he might cave, cornered as he was by two massive, testy werewolves. But much to all their shock, he pointed his wand and the two werewolves were thrown back hard against the wall behind them.

He sneered at them and Leila got the impression he was double crossing them. Leila's eyes widened as she took in their frightened, angry expressions, their gazes trained on Karakoff's wand.

Mighty as they were, they could not take on an armed wizard unless it was a full moon night. Leila felt fear for her companions. She had no illusions about how good they were and they did just try to sell her off after all, but they had saved her and gotten her this far and had been pretty damned decent to her even though she was a witch.

"Well, isn't that fucking cheap? That's no way to treat someone who was just handed you the solution to all your problems." Leila said to Karakoff coolly, hoping to draw his attention to her, to give the werewolves time to run for it.

His wand still pointed at the two men, he half glanced at her and laughed incredulously. "Pitying the Children of the Volk, are we? They don't care who you are, only that you're worth some gold, Potter. I'd shelve that pity and worry about the fate that is going to befall _you_ instead."

He waved his wand again in glee and the men were brought to their knees and held there. Their furious expressions told Leila that if they ever escaped, Karakoff would be a dead man.

Karakoff pointed his wand again and said, "Crucio." The two men howled in agony, writhing.

"Stop!" whispered Leila, horrified, struggling to move forward, to shove against Karakoff, to do anything to make him stop. But her battered body wouldn't and couldn't move as quickly as she wanted it to and she watched helplessly.

"The werewolves need to learn their place, Potter, as do you." Karakoff sneered. "They should have taken the money I thought was appropriate and gone quietly."

"No wonder they hate wizards." snarled Leila, reaching inside her pocket and pulling out her gun.

Karakoff looked at her mildly, unconcerned. Leila realized that he, like every other pureblood she had encountered, walked with blinders when it came to the muggle world. He had no idea that what she held in her hand was a weapon.

She fired at his general direction, the recoil throwing her back once again. But she was prepared for it and managed to stay upright this time, forcing her screaming body to cooperate.

The bullet hit his shoulder and he dropped the wand, howling with pain. The werewolves looked up, their agony still apparent in their eyes and they watched her fire again, aiming for his torso. It hit his leg and he fell to the ground, screaming.

She stumbled to him, kicked his wand away and pulled out another bag of gold from his robe pocket. She tossed it to the shocked werewolves and said, "My debt to you is repaid. Run now!"

Borya got up, understanding the gist of what she said, picked up the gold and sped away. Dimitriv was standing there, looking at her in amazement, unmoving. His disbelieving expression changed to one that she didn't really understand. He slowly stopped forward and she immediately trained her gun at him. He held up his hand defensively, reached inside his shirt and pulled out a thick leather string with a round silver pendant on it. He pulled it over his head and tossed it to her. Giving her one last lingering look, he turned and ran after Borya.

Leila slowly lowered her gun and struggling with her protesting limbs, bent down and picked up the chain. She turned the pendant over and found that the disc had a wolf paw inscribed on it and a something written in Russian below. She pulled it over her head and tucked it into her shirt and turned her attention back to Karakoff who was still whimpering in agony.

In her momentary distraction with the werewolves, she failed to see that he had crawled to his wand a few feet away and had grabbed it. He held it up and his face twisted in pain and loathing, he started to aim a curse as as she hastily aimed her gun at him again, knowing that this time she was going to be hit first.

"Expelliarmus!"

Karakoff's wand flew out of his grip and went in the direction of the shadowed alley to his right. Leila turned that way and to her shock, found Severus Snape and Alastor Moody there, with their wands out and starting at her, their faces mirroring her stunned expression.

Leila wondered if she was hallucinating.

Snape marched up to her, stared at the gun in her hands and then looked at Karakoff on the ground, bleeding and whimpering in pain.

"I lost Yaxley's wand." she said, as a way of explanation. "It's a long story."

"Indeed. I can't wait to hear it." Snape said, his voice gruff. Then he did something that made Leila literally pass out in shock. He reached out, gently pried the gun away from her hand and patted her head in obvious affection.

Her eyes fluttered shut and her body finally gave way, relief flooding her, mingled with the astonishment that Snape might actually be fond of her. She crumpled and he caught her before she hit the ground.

"I think that was a bit of an overkill, Snape." said Mad Eye, half laughing and half groaning, as he trained his wand on Karakoff. Shaking his head, he muttered to himself, "Only Potter could manage to catch a Death Eater in the midst of all this madness."

**A/N- As always, your reviews make my day (and week!). Thank you so much for taking the time to write in to let me know what you think. Your encouragement means the world to me. **

**A****ny Russians reading this, forgive me for taking liberties with your cities and forests. Come to think of it, same goes for practising Hindus, Peruvians, Greeks, Americans and any other culture I have referenced in the fic. Please do feel free to correct any errors and I apologize in advance for any blunders I make henceforth as well.**


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